COVID Dystopia: MFers Explode

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In this scene from COVID Dystopia, the Zeros fly by rather fast and one drops a COVID shaped bomb. At the cut to the next scene the bomb explodes. The audio of the bomb being released and whistling downward is rather rough at this point. here is an audible click in the audio as well that I hope can be fixed.

When viewing the film at the Cleveland International Film Festival, l got to hear the surround sound audio for the first time. I was hoping to notice the sound coming at me at times from the back of the theater, but I didn’t hear that.

The song audio is in stereo which means the lyrics and the instruments are locked on the track together. My sound guy in Georgia tried splitting the stereo track between the speakers at the front of the theater and the back of the theater. The people making the Digital Content Package (DCP) felt that was a bad idea since people seated in between speakers in the large theater would hear the same lyrics from in front and behind. Since sound travels relatively slow, they might hear the same lyrics twice and the words would become gabled.

Lyrics should come out from a speaker right behind the movie screen and the instruments could come from any of the other 4 speakers. I am in touch with the song composer, Andy Matchett and trying to see if the original tracks for the song exist. Justin Beckler who did the production, mixing and engineering for the song hopefully has that audio on a hard drive somewhere. If so we could create a much better surround sound mix. A solid sound design for the film in surround sound is the final step to seeing the film complete. Most Film Festivals will still not want to project the film since they are proud to have returned to packing theaters in a rush to “Normal”.

Cleveland Airport

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When departing the Cleveland International Film Festival I flew out of the Cleveland Airport. Waiting to get on the plane back to Orlando, I sat away from the crush of people standing in line waiting for boarding to be announced. I managed to get a sketch of the only other person I saw in the airport wearing an n-95 mask.

He was oriental and tapping away on his laptop computer. He didn’t wear the mask the whole time. I think his mask policy was to only wear the mask if someone sat right next to him. The rest of the time he wore the mask as a chin strap. I actually sketched him in  chinstrap mode but erased it when he wore the mask correctly.

COVID hospitalization continues to drop and Florida has minimal cases for the first time since the pandemic began. I continue to mask indoors but take it off when outside. I always have a kn-95 in my breast pocket the way that British dandies used to wear folded hankies in their breast pockets.

I haven’t heard of a new variant to take JN-1’s place so hopefully America’s insane COVID infection rates will drop to a manageable baseline for the first time. However, I am not holding my breath. Well, actually I do for 5 seconds as I pass anyone walking outside.

Whisky Duo at Eden Bar

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I decided to cover the Florida Film Festival as an outsider. My film, COVID Dystopia was rejected by the festival. My thought is that the Florida politics shown in the film probably disqualified it. It is a bit too hard edged for the quaint hometown FFF.

I have sketched the festival many times in the past and I know you can rub shoulders with some pretty incredibly film makers just by hanging out at the Eden bar.

I saw more than my share of films at the Cleveland Film Festival which was a truly incredible experience. So I don’t feel the need to review films at the Florida Film Festival. Instead my thought is to cover the Florida Film Festival ancillary activities.

As I walked up to the Enzian Theater I could hear live music. Whisky Duo was performing outside on the patio in front of the Eden Bar. The bar was packed as were most of the outside tables. The front two tables closest to the performers were however empty. Chairs had been borrowed to seat more people at other tables so I set out my art stool. I masked up since it was a dense crowd.

I was enjoying the set until they broke into playing The Bear Necessities, from Disney’s The Jungle Book. Ugh, Disney’s sweaty paw seems to try and permeate all local arts and culture. I liked that yellow blooms had fallen from a tree onto the table and I liked that the Live Music banner reflected the dense Florida foliage that surrounds the Enzian. The performance was free, you can’t beat that.

On the night I did this sketch, International Animated Shorts were to be shown at 9:15pm. The laughing crowd around me were probably waiting for that show to begin.I figured that a crowd interested in seeing International Animated Shorts might have a familiar face but I didn’t recognize anyone. This weekend I will be buying a ticket to see the shorts for myself. I am curious what types of animated films were selected.

The musician announced that they were performing their last song. I panicked and sketched faster. I got some semblance of line work done of the performers before the end of the song. I spent the rest of the time working on the background and adding color. The lights made the painting a challenge since they kept changing color. I settled on the bright purple lights.

COVID Dystopia screened at Cleveland International Film Festival

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The Cleveland International Film Festival was impressive. Granted COVID Dystopia didn’t win any awards, but it was an honor just to get to show it there.

There were some amazing shorts in the After Hours Short Film block that COVID Dystopia was shown in. Bounce House by Callie Bloem and Christopher J. Ewing won the award for the best After Hours Short. It featured a post apocalyptic world with giant sloths and of course a bounce house.

I think my favorite was The Looming by Marsha Ko. It features a stellar actor who is truly haggard in his look. He lives alone and occasionally talks to his Alexa device. Alexa failed several times in different horror films, usually turning off the lights when the character desperately needs the light on. I can identify since I now live alone and occasionally open the front door just to listen to the security system say, “Front door open.” She isn’t a great conversationalist but its what I got.

There was a talk back after the screening and I was surprised that there were a bunch of questions about COVID Dystopia. I of course talked about the beginning of the project in March of 2020 when I started doing a painting a day about the pandemic.

One woman wanted to know if there would be a longer form of the project. My answer to her was that the long form project would be a book which I felt no one actually would want to see but I feel it needs to to be made for people 100 years from now. She raised her hand and said she would certainly get a copy. Now that I have a potential sale, it is time to create the book.

Someone else asked about the music and I got to promote Andy Matchett and the Post Apocalyptic Rock musical, Key of E. I couldn’t believe that the mic kept being handed off to me. I got flummoxed by a multi point question but think I answered it in the end. While COVID Dystopia was being shown a large group of people in the row in front of me started waving in friends. By the time they were all settled the film was over. Perhaps COVID Dystopia presents too much too fast. Next time around I need to make something with a straight forward narrative structure.

While doing the sketch above of the Allen Lobby, I had to swing my filmmaker lanyard behind my back since it got in the way of my sketching. As I was finishing up, an usher walked up behind me and asked if I wanted my lanyard scanned. It turned out a long line had formed all around me, and the audience were about to go into a screening. I asked what film was being shown and one of the ushers laughed. The film was, Humanist Vampire Seeking Consenting Suicidal Person. The title probably sounds better in French. It sounded good to me, so I went in. I sat way in the back of the theater, away from the crush of the crowd. As the lights went out, my glasses fell to the floor. I got on my hands and knees to find them using the faint light from my iPhone but with no luck. I sat through the whole film wondering where the glasses could be. Reading the captions was a challenge but the message of the film was not lost on me. I loved it. At the end of the film, when the lights came back up, I found my glasses which had bounced one seat over. I later saw the vampire actress walking in the lobby. I couldn’t help but stare, her porcelain face was as white and frail as in the movie. If only I knew French.

At the Shorts Jury Awards and the Shorts Audience Choice Awards, I got to see all the winning films. The winner for best animation was Anita Lost in the News, a film about a failed emigration of a family out of Iraq. It seemed to be stop motion animation with the family being created out of newspaper clippings. I don’t think there were many animated films. All the films I saw in the tow days I was at the Film Festival were live action documentaries or narrative films.

COVID Dystopia: Babies bursting Into Flames

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This scene from COVID Dystopia has hand drawn flames. I later started doing flames using distortion tools in After Effects, but these flames work just fine. I see no reason to go back to make these flames like the other more digital flames. The film has a mix of techniques used to create flames.

COVID Dystopia faced two rejections from film festivals yesterday. It is the flaming baby no one wants to hold. To counter the rejections I researched festivals I would like to submit to next. The only response to an indifferent world is to press ahead.

On April 12, COVID Dystopia will have screened at the Cleveland International Film Festival. It is part of the After Hours Part 2 Shorts block. I will be flying in to attend the screening. I am hoping to sketch the theater before the screening. Since I will be traveling light, I will not have my art stool so I will get some exercise as I stand to do the sketches.

I will be bringing 5 by 8 inch poster cards that have the lyrics on the back. The printing job by Fed Ex Kinkos is horrible. The type was printed as a dot screen and is barely legible. Anyway I want to get rid of these 40 or so cards and print up better cards. I also have about 50 “COVID is not done with us” buttons. I don’t know if there is a place to leave this free swag but I will find out. Is it cold in Clevelend, Oh God I hope not.

COVID Dystopia will also be streaming on CIFF Streams online from April 14, 2024 – April 21, 2024 (Part of short: “After Hours Shorts 2”). Tickets for online viewing are $14.

COVID Dystopia: Tanks Attack

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This shot from COVID Dystopia has tanks on the streets of New York City firing up the invading virus’ as they float down the side streets. I like how the shot is working.

The entire film was altered to get rid of he snap zoom effects between shots. Those snap zooms were the original reason I wanted to create the film but I am realizing the intensity and speed need to be dialed back a bit for the average audience to have any chance of digesting all that is being thrown at them.

A random Facebook message from a follower in South Africa convinced me to slow things down a touch. He said his wife kept asking him to freeze frame the movie so she could see all the details in each shot. I recognize that people might miss many details, but that is true to the times where the 24 hour news cycle keeps churning out viewpoint weather true or not and the internet further distorts simple truths.

This film has had a 17% success rate in getting into festivals. Those are slim pickings. The list of rejections is immense. I had tow festivals reject the film yesterday. Facing so much rejection eventually wears you down. But when I get a rejection I research a new festival that might accept the message and I also refine and improve shots. I hope I am polishing a gem and not something that everyone hates. From curse words in the lyrics to very adult themed images, I know I am facing an uphill battle. The audience is out there however I just need to find them. This will be a year of patience and perseverance.

In two days I fly to the Cleveland International Film Festival where COVID Dystopia will screen at 9:50pm. This is the first Academy Award qualifying festival that the film has been accepted into. Hoping to make the most of that 17% acceptance rate.

 

COVID Dystopia at the Cleveland International Film Festival

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I am pleased to announce that COVID Dystopia will be screening at the Cleveland International Film Festival (CIFF) on April 12, 2024 at 9:50PM in the Allen Theater which seats an audience of 500. CIFF is the first Academy Award qualifying festival that the film has been accepted into. The festival also has online screenings between April 14 and April 21.

I will be flying out to Cleveland to attend the screening since this will be the first time I get to experience the film in such a large theater with the new surround sound soundtrack. The soundtrack still has some glitches and problems and could use a solid artistic run through for refining the folly but it was finished at breakneck speed to meet the festival deadline. The only way to really judge how the sound is working right now is to hear it in the huge theater.