COVID Dystopia is an official Selection of the Pittsburgh Shorts Film Festival

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COVID Dystopia will be screened in the Virtual Pittsburgh Shorts Film Festival between November 14 and November 24, 2024. It will be available to watch in Pennsylvania, West Virginia, and Ohio. It is one of the short films in the 40V – Chiller Theater Block 2 – VIRTUAL -Shorts24. A general admission ticket is $18.

I will be flying into Pittsburgh for the final day of the festival to attend the awards ceremony. You never know. It should be a fun black tie and black N-95 mask affair.

Hopefully I will have time to watch a few films that I haven’t seen at other festivals.

COVID Dystopia: Black Lives Matter

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The Black Lives Matter shot is a straight forward pan down the street towards the White House. D.C. Mayor Murial Bowser is screen left. It is a fast pan and I had to pause long enough to give people a chance to start reading Black Lives before the fast camera move. The shot still might be too fast, but that is true of most of the shots in the film. This isn’t a leisurely stroll , but a fast paced fever dream. The shot feels complete.

Yesterday I was editing the 30 second trailer for the film, and the computer crashed while it was open. This morning I opened up the complete edit of the entire film. A window opened asking if I wanted to save the file that was open when the computer crashed. I accepted, of course I want to save every version of the film that I had worked on.  I just discovered that the 30 second trailer overwrote the entire long edit of the film. WTF.AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAhhhh!!!!!!!!! The shot shown here had to be re-edited to get it to work correctly.

The convoluted way Adobe Premiere Pro force saves files has been a major problem throughout the process. I now have to go over a much older version of the film and start making repairs. Adobe updated the software and many scenes moved partially off screen. The programmers must have decided ti change  the way X and y coordinates are calculated. This will waste an entire day to recover and is par for the course for Adobe.

COVID Dystopia: Corpses Clogged Up Every Creek

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The animation in this scene from COVID Dystopia simply has the two hazmat suited people hugging. The previous shot has the audience looking at that area of the screen and this motion should catch their eye.

The background is a watercolor sketch I did on location at Harry P. Leu Gardens. There is a blue tarp on the roof because a tree fell on the roof destroying it.

The annual plant sale was going on that is why there was a tend on the path next to the building.

COVID Dystopia will screen at the Orlando Film Festival on November 1 and 7, 2024. The November 1 screening is at 4:15pm and the November 7, 2024 screening is at 2pm, both in theater 9. At 8pm on November 7 is the Awards Ceremony which I will also attend in case I need to pick up another award. The Orlando Film Festival runs from October 31 to November 7 at the CMX PLAZA CINEMA CAFE 155 S. Orange Ave, Downtown, Orlando FL. A one day pass is $20 and you can see a whole lot of films in one day. When I attend a film festival, I treat it like a movie marathon. If you go to a screening of COVID Dystopia, I will be easy to find as the one person in a KN-95 mask. We might be done with COVID, but COVID is not done with us.

COVID Dystopia: On the Red Carpet

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On Sunday November 3rd at 8pm there was a second screening of COVID Dystopia at the Orlando Film Festival. I had quite honestly not realized there was a screening Sunday, so I hadn’t promoted it like usual with a Facebook invite.

I feel it is important to always go to any screening to be there for the question and answer sessions that follow the screening. I went early to get a sketch done in the theater lobby. There was a red carpet set up so film makers could pose in front of all the corporate logos. I took a selfie but haven’t had an official shot taken yet. I have one more chance with my final screening on Tuesday. I shared a shot of myself in front of the COVID Dystopia movie poster and that shot got more engagement than any of the trailer of stills from the film I had shared. It wasn’t my smiling face that got the likes because I was as usual wearing my formal black KN-95 mask. One of the staff took the photo. I usually cross my arms for such a shot, but the lanyard got in the way, So I ended up putting one hand on my hip. On this trip to the festival I finally brought along some COVID Dystopia cards and buttons. The cards have an early poster on one side and the lyrics to the other side. The buttons have a laurel and “COVID Isn’t done with us yet”.

I figured an 8pm screening might be better for getting a crowd in the theater. I was wrong. The producer for the animated short Matty Cat sat in the back and there were two others seated house right. I had met the producer at the first screening where there were lots of filmmakers and about 5 audience members. I joked with him about how I had hoped for a more packed audience. We had a very pleasant conversation about the trajectories of our careers, and lives, then the films started.

Seeing all the films a second time I got to better appreciate things that worked well in each film. With the first screening I cringed every time animation seemed flawed. I put that aside and just looked at textures, lighting and all the aspects that I could learn from should I once again commit to making an animated short.

The two person audience filtered out when the lights went back up so there was no point to a question and answer session. One of the staff however asked us both questions. He was fresh out of film school and just breaking into the film business. Talking to him was awesome since he was in touch with all the Hollywood gossip and so passionate about wanting Independent films to make a mark. There is a horror film that was just made with a budget of $15,000 and it made about 6 million dollars in theaters. That is a one in a million shot but it is what keeps filmmakers motivated.

The last Orlando Film Festival showing of COVID Dystopia will be on November 7, 2024. The November 1st screening 2pm, theater 9. At 8pm on November 7 is the Awards Ceremony which I will also attend in case I need to pick up another award. The Orlando Film Festival runs from October 31 to November 7 at the CMX PLAZA CINEMA CAFE 155 S. Orange Ave, Downtown, Orlando FL. A one day pass is $20 and you can see a whole lot of films in one day. When I attend a film festival I treat it like a movie marathon. If you go to a screening, I will be easy to find as the one person in a KN-95 mask. We might be done with COVID, but COVID is not done with us.

COVID Dystopia: Corpses Clogged up Every Creek

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In this shot from COVID Dystopia, all the hazmat wearing men are animated as they carry caskets and load them onto the truck.

Now looking at the scene, I wonder if the semi driving down the highway at full speed, might swerve and jack knife when cut off by traffic. Caskets would crash and scatter all over the highway. I have no idea why such scenes flash into my head.

I went to the opening night of the Orlando Film Festival last night and saw Tapawingo which was a fun low stakes film set in the 1980s. It had Napoleon Dynamite vibes. I was laughing out loud at times and it reminded me of my first job which was sorting junk mail. Two thumbs up. It is screening one more time on Saturday Nov 2 at 8pm, and the director will be attending that screening.

I found it fascinating that the film was going to be filmed in Las Angeles but the city shut down due to COVID. The film was later filmed in Virginia. I am always surprised when people refer to the pandemic in the past tense.

Today I will be attending the screening of my film COVID Dystopia at 4:15pm in Theater 9 in the CMX Plaza Cinema Cafe 155 S. Orange Avenue, Downtown, Orlando FL. I am hoping that the write up in Florida Politics and the NPR radio interview will also bring out a few friends. Actually I might have scared off the NPR folks since I spoke at length about the lasting effects of repeat COVID infections. I forgot that my goal should have been to promote the film not save lives. Some flowery talk about how art can alter a persons world view would have been more appropriate. Oh well, there is no undo button.

I just found out there was a mass shooting at the Halloween festivities in Downtown Orlando on the night of the Orlando Film festival opening. I was walking through  the intersection where the shooting happened two hour before it happened. Had I decided to stay for the Film Festival After Party or if I had decided to start sketching the chaos and amazing costumes on the streets. I might very well have been at the location when the shooting happened at 1:07am. 2 people died and seven were injured. The show must go on, I am off to my film screening in a couple of hours.

COVID Dystopia will also screen at the Orlando Film Festival on November 7, 2024 at 2pm, in theater 9. At 8pm on November 7 is the Awards Ceremony which I will also attend in case I need to pick up another award. The Orlando Film Festival runs through November 7 at the CMX PLAZA CINEMA CAFE 155 S. Orange Ave, Downtown, Orlando FL. A one day pass is $20 and you can see a whole lot of films in one day. When I attend a film festival I treat it like a movie marathon. If you go to a COVID Dystopia screening, I will be easy to find as the one person in a KN-95 mask. We might be done with COVID, but COVID is not done with us.

COVID Dystopia: Copses Rained

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The former president signed his name and sent it to every American at the height of the lock downs. He was truly obsessed with the idea that he was better than Abraham Lincoln. He always wanted to be seen with the man.

This scene has a depth map, camera move and subtle animation of the former president  raising his hands.

COVID Dystopia will screen at the Orlando Film Festival on November 1 and 7, 2024. The November 1 screening is at 4:15pm and the November 7, 2024 screening is at 2pm, both in theater 9. At 8pm on November 7 is the Awards Ceremony which I will also attend in case I need to pick up another award. The Orlando Film Festival runs from October 31 to November 7 at the CMX PLAZA CINEMA CAFE 155 S. Orange Ave, Downtown, Orlando FL. A one day pass is $20 and you can see a whole lot of films in one day. When I attend a film festival I treat it like a movie marathon. If you go to a screening, I will be easy to find as the one person in a KN-95 mask. We might be done with COVID, but COVID is not done with us.

COVID Dystopia: Zeus Came Down With a lightning Bolt

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This shot has no actual animation, but a depth map and camera movement.I could have had his hand physically point but I decided to keep it still so the the lightning bold movement is the center of attention.

The lighting bold was animated in after effects. I hand animated the bolt as well but liked the procedural animation better. I did hand animate lightning in another shot with basketball players jumping to tap the COVID ball.

COVID Dystopia will screen at the Orlando Film Festival on November 1 and 7, 2024. The November 1 screening is at 4:15pm and the November 7, 2024 screening is at 2pm, both in theater 9. At 8pm on November 7 is the Awards Ceremony which I will also attend in case I need to pick up another award. The Orlando Film Festival runs from October 31 to November 7 at the CMX PLAZA CINEMA CAFE 155 S. Orange Ave, Downtown, Orlando FL. A one day pass is $20 and you can see a whole lot of films in one day. When I attend a film festival I treat it like a movie marathon. If you go to a screening, I will be easy to find as the one person in a KN-95 mask. We might be done with COVID, but COVID is not done with us.

COVID Dystopia: Snatched Up All the Chicks

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COVID Dystopia will screen at the Orlando Film Festival on November 1, 2024 at 4:15pm in Theater 9, in the CMX Plaza Cinema Cafe 155 S. Orange Ave, Downtown, Orlando FL.

It will also screen on November 7, 2024 in the same theater at 2pm in the same theater. It is part of the Animation block 1, so there will be plenty of other animated films to see.

At the height of the pandemic, I went to downtown Winter Garden with a roommate and we ordered hot dogs which we ate outside. When there is an outdoor seating option my mask will come off to eat. As we were eating a huge group of high school students in tuxedos and gown rushed by. They went into the central park area and were taking selfies. Crowds kept walking by and I started wolfing down the hot dog or I think it was a thicker brat. Anyway a large chunk got lodged in my esophagus. My fried knows CPR, but didn’t try the Heimlich. I jumped up and down paced and tried to wash it down with the drink but the fluid wouldn’t go down. It was a horrifying situation. Thankfully I could breath fine. I threw out the food and started walking, hoping it would settle itself out. By the time we got back to the car the chunk had finished its course down my tight gullet. This happened a second time around family. It seems I have difficulty eating around people pretending the pandemic is over.

COVID Dystopia will screen at the Orlando Film Festival on November 1 and 7, 2024. The November 1 screening is at 4:15pm and the November 7, 2024 screening is at 2pm, both in theater 9. At 8pm on November 7 is the Awards Ceremony which I will also attend in case I need to pick up another award. The Orlando Film Festival runs from October 31 to November 7 at the CMX PLAZA CINEMA CAFE 155 S. Orange Ave, Downtown, Orlando FL. A one day pass is $20 and you can see a whole lot of films in one day. When I attend a film festival I treat it like a movie marathon. If you go to a screening, I will be easy to find as the one person in a KN-95 mask. We might be done with COVID, but COVID is not done with us.

COVID Dystopia: Jesus Snatched Up all the Chicks

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Adobe decided to update the Premiere Pro software overnight. Now when I play the edit of COVID Dystopia quite a few shots are offset and partially out of frame. This shot is one of those shots. I had to go in and re-edit the start and end positions of the clip.

As I share scenes I will be digging in and redoing the work that was already done. The only other thing I might need to do to the movie is add captions in case a film festival requires them. I added captions once before but took them back out since they distract from the scenes. The film moves at such a breakneck speed that there is not time to read and also see that is happening in each shot.

I always liked the concept of this shot. Since Jesus has holes in his hands from the crucifixion nails, his hands make for very ineffective masks when held over one’s face.

COVID Dystopia will screen at the Orlando Film Festival on November 1, at 4:15pm and November 6 at 2pm in theater 9 of the CMX PLAZA CINEMA CAFE (155 S. Orange Ave, Downtown, Orlando FL). The film is part of Animation Block 1. Orlando Film Festival passes are on sale now. A 1 day pass is $20. You can see a lot of films in one day if you are up for a marathon.

COVID Dystopia: Jesus Dropped a Cluster Bomb

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In the weeks leading up to the Orlando Film Festival, I feel I should share shots from COVID Dystopia. I do this leading into each film festival.

This festival feels special since the film was created in Orlando and so many of the shots relate to Florida’s failed COVID response. The film has been rejected multiple times for other Florida Film Festivals and I thought it would never be shown in this state.

The animated film is controversial  and rather hard edged. It is perhaps too controversial to be shown at your average Film Festival. When it is shown, it wins awards. It won the Best Short Animation Film Award at the Chicago International Reels Film Festival. It won as the Best Short Short Film at the Berlin Shorts Film Festival, and it has won an Honorable Mention at the Charlotte Film Festival and it was a Nominee for the Best Animated Short at the Iowa Independent Film Festival.