After a long day of sketching in Epcot on the weekend, I settled down to sketch a crowd as they gathered to watch Illuminations. Illuminations was a light display that happened in the Epcot World Lagoon. A series of floating barges and mist were the backdrop for a flickering display set to patriotic music.
I had more fun sketching the crowd than watching the display. I found my way out out early through a cast exit to avoid the crush of the crowds when Illuminations ended.
The interns were invited over Frank Gladstone‘s house. Frank was our training manager. We had pizza and watched the worst movie ever made called Plan 9 from Outer Space by Ed Wood. The film is so bad that it has a major following. Disney has not yet made an animated film so terrifying and incomprehensible.
Back at the studio we had an improve session. The interns were coached by an improve comedy coach to act out scenes on the fly. I found this terrifying since I like to be behind the scenes rather than making a fool of myself for the sake of a laugh. Once we got onto the process however I relaxed a bit and had a great time. I knew a comedy improve actress in NYC and wished I could fly her in to pinch hit for me.
Disney Feature Animation Internship: Germany in Epcot
Work continued of getting a centaur to run. The scene was filled with glitches which I was working to patch.
Any time I wanted to see the drawings in motion I would have to take the stack of drawings to a camera, called the lion lamb, and shoot the drawings in sequence onto VHS tape. If a drawing was shot out of sequence the whole scene would need to be re-shot. Interns would try and mess with each other by talking to the person shooting so they might loose focus and forget which drawing had been shot.
I was working to add more twist in the torso of the centaur as he ran. With animation the work was never ending and the scene was never perfect. The challenge was to stay sane and put out an entertaining end result.
I took a trip to Germany when I worked at Disney Feature Animation. There I met all my relatives who share the Thorspecken name. I traveled with Herbert who was in the Luftwaffe a the same time that my father was pushing into the Ruhr pocket of Germany in the final days of the was. It was far more interesting seeing the real Germany compared to the homogenized vision of Germany on display at Epcot. I also traveled to Berlin recently to screen my short animated film COVID Dystopia. Germans seem to like my dark vision of the world. Americans tend to prefer an idealized view of the world.
Disney Feature Animation Internship: Epcot
I would sketch in the theme parks on days off to ground myself in an alternate realty through direct observation. As an intern I tended to work 10 hour or more each day. Any notion of work life balance is abandoned if you become an animator. Animation is all consuming and never feels quite finished.
The centaur run was driving me mad. How on earth do horses keep track of those four legs? In my scene the front legs were running faster that the hind legs causing the torso to stretch. I decided it wasn’t a mistake but a happy accident and I kept it.
COVID Dystopia is an Official Selection at the Charlotte Film Festival
COVID Dystopia is an official selection of the Charlotte Film Festival. The festival which runs September 24th to September 29, 2024.
I will likely drive up to the festival and spend some time exploring Charlotte, North Carolina with my sketchbook.
I am discovering that once I resign myself to repeat rejections, that is when I am surprised by an acceptance. Since my expectations are low, I can be infinitely delighted when the film finds an audience. I assume that few will accept a film that disrupts the new normal. The message that, “we might be done with COVID but COVID is not done with us”, is one that few want to hear. Yet there are some realizing that the pandemic is indeed far from over. I keep throwing it out there, in the hope that a few will pull their heads out of the sand.
The COVID Dystopia book is now 2/3 complete but it will not be done before the Charlotte Film Festival. September is going to be a crazy month of Film Festival hopping.
Disney Feature Animation Internship: Big Cats
The interns were invited to sketch a lion on that sound stage in the animation studio.If anything can go wrong it always does when I am sketching. My elegant thin pen ran out of ink half way through the sketch and I had to dig around for my much thicker pen to finish up.
Clearly I started on the left and half way through the pen gave out. The thick sketch on the right hints at some some frustration and annoyance.
The Lion King was still in production so that is why the big cat came in to model. The design of the characters had already been established so this was more of an exercise in keeping our sketching chops in shape. By the time I got to sketching the lion, most of the interns had started to leave. Life moves too fast when you are trying to catch it in a sketch.
The next day was to be a mid-term review. I would get to find out how the Board felt I was progressing as an animator. No pressure, just don’t suck.
Disney Feature Animation Internship: Chip in China
A Russian animator visited the studio and screened his film for us. The interns also had an opportunity to sketch lions and bears on a sound stage. There were once in a lifetime opportunities.
I managed to get my centaur to walk but getting him to transition into run was proving a major challenge.
I developed a cold which had my nose completely stuffed and I had to leave the studio to go back to the apartment and nurse myself back to health. That weekend all the interns were invited to go the the home of the training manager, Frank Gladstone. Frank was pivotal in keeping my head screwed on straight since I was feeling home sick for NYC. My wife was going to visit the studio the week of Halloween so that was something to look forward to.
Disney Feature Animation Internship: Dancing Bushes
These dancing Hippo and Crocodile bushes were located right outside the animation tour building. They were in the MGM studio theme park for guests to enjoy, not necessarily the animators.
My evening of partying caught up with me and I had a horrible hangover. I had to leave work early.
I did get some work done on my quadruped assignment. I designed a centaur. The plan was to make the centaur walk onto the scene where he notices a female centaur and starts running after her. It was a great plan but a bit too much for my hungover brain to handle.
I was told that 23 positions were opening up in the animation studio in the next 18 months. There was hope to join the growing studio.
Disney Feature Animation Internship: Muppets on Location
The interns went to Pleasure Island to blow off some steam. My favorite venue there was the adventurer’s club, but there were a wide variety of dance clubs and comedy clubs. Unfortunately Disney shut down this more adult themes attraction.
I had a good conversation with Pete about the future possibilities of working in Animation. We both agreed that it is important to invest in your own ideas besides working on company projects.
Disney felt homogenized. It offered security, but a life of adventure would require more risks. I had 6 beers and felt I needed to figure out the trajectory of my life. The key is to take it one day at a time and keep moving in a direction. Just as I was searching for my next step then, I am searching for my next step now. I have several spreads in my book I need to lay out today. That is all I can think about for now.
COVID Dystopia: At Iowa Independent Film Festival
COVID Dystopia will be screening at the Iowa Independent Film Festival on September 6, 2024. The festival has been in existence for 17 years.
The primary reason I submitted to this festival was that one of the board members is names Chris P. Chicken.
Today I have to firm up travel plans. I already spent a night looking a lodging and found a great place. I just need to book the flight and lodging. I always travel to Film Festivals that showcase COVID Dystopia. It is a great excuse to travel places I never would have gone and meet other film makers.
The other films in the time slot my film is being shown in are: Masterpiece (3 minutes) and Masterpiece is actually shorter than my film which runs 4 minutes and 17 seconds) Knee High (1 hour 53 minutes) fills out the remainder of the film block.
Should you find yourself in Clear Lake Iowa on September 6, stop on by and say hello. There is a director’s question and answer session after the screening so it is a rare chance to hear why I felt this film needed to be made.
COVID Dystopia: Screening at the Iowa Independent Film Festival
COVID Dystopia will be screening at the Iowa Independent film Festival in Clear Lake, Iowa on September 6, 2024 from 4pm to 6pm at The Lake Theater. It is right next door to the corner drug store.
In making travel plans I found the tiny puddle jumper airport does not have a car rental, si I am hoping that lyft will be able to get me around.I actually read an article online that said lyft does not exist in Clear, Lake Iowa. I will have to trust that can not be true or a taxi service at least must exist. The walk between the town is 3 and a half hours. I am not doing that but maybe I could find a bike rental. In some ways traveling to the middle of nowhere is terrifying but it is also thrilling.
The other Film Festival theater that is screening films is a 20 minute drive east at Mason City, Iowa. The awards ceremony and several after parties are in Mason City.
I decided I will stay in Clear Lake, Iowa. I found a very affordable hotel that overlooks the lake and is walking distance to the Lake Theater. I might bring my swim trunks although the water might be rather cold in Iowa come September.
My sound tech has offered to do a complete sound redesign for the film. That will not be ready by the time of the Iowa International Film Festival screening, but I am excited to see the film take another creative step forward.
It is exciting traveling to cities around the world to screen the film and spread the message that we might be done with COVID, but COVID is not done with us.
I am deep into designing a 200 page hardcover book that includes 600 of the COVID illustrations along with concise write ups for each day. One question at the Cleveland International Film Festival was, do I plan to make a longer version of the film? The book is that long form project. It allows a reader time to pause and think about the insanity that ensued. The film. COVID Dystopia hits like a slap in the face and is so fast paced that many can not keep up. In a way that is the point. I was the only artist trying to keep up and record what most want to ignore.