COVID Dystopia: Lions Genetically Entwined

Posted on by Thor

A lion at a Zoo in South Bend, Indiana, tested positive for COVID after it started coughing and became breathless. Zoo workers who had cared for the lion later caught the infection. The lion that was infected with the coronavirus probably passed it on to two zoo employees.

COVID continues to spread not just human to human, but between species.

This scene involved animating the two lions walking around the virus. This was my second time animating lions so the mechanics were fresh in my mind. The lion balancing on the viral ball was subtly animated in After Effects using the puppet tool, and his tail was fully animated. So many of these shots involved keeping very subtle movement so that the painting was the primary focus.

The COVID Dystopia book is nearing completion. Today I just have to catch up on double checking the index and the editing is being done vary carefully 3 spreads a a time.

COVID Dystopia is available to be seen at the Virtual Pittsburgh Shorts Film Festival happening now through November 24, 2024. COVID Dystopia can be seen in the Eventive – Chiller Theater Block 2 – Shorts online. It can be seen anywhere in Pennsylvania, West Virginia and Ohio. After you start watching the films, you have 48 hours to complete watching them. Tickets are $18.

COVID Dystopia: In Like a Lion, Out Like a Lion

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April was to be the cruelest month. Doctors and nurses hit the brink of exhaustion. All they could do was watch people gasp for breath and die. Ventilators were thought to help but they resulted in even more death.

In this scene I did subtle animation on the lions behind the nurse. I used puppet tools in Adobe After Effects to move a few lion heads. I used the same toll to have the nurse lean forward a bit.

Most of the hand drawn animation in this scene came in moving the lions pacing in a circle. I have not animated many quadrupeds so I looked at reference of peoples African safari videos to study the lion’s walk. It was a challenge but I am pleased with the result.

COVID Dystopia is available to be seen at the Virtual Pittsburgh Shorts Film Festival happening now through November 24, 2024. COVID Dystopia can be seen in the Eventive – Chiller Theater Block 2 – Shorts online. It can be seen anywhere in Pennsylvania, West Virginia and Ohio. After you start watching the films, you have 48 hours to complete watching them. Tickets are $18.

COVID Dystopia: No One Seemed to Mind

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Stockholm Syndrome is a is a psychological response where a victim develops an emotional connection with their abuser or captor.

It seems so many Americans fell in love with the virus, they want to share it with friends and family. Mass infection for them is an act of kindness.

Unfortunately they are doing this with the assumption that repeat infections build immunity. The opposite it true however, COVID is weakening the immune response, not just to COVID but every other pathogen. An entire generation has been encouraged to live lives of constant repeat infections. At first the hope was that vaccines would stop the infections. Vaccines have helped reduce hospitalizations and death, but break though infections are common. Being infected also only offers some immunity for a few months to the variant of the moment. You can be infected by COVID any month of the year, every several months.

A parent who realizes that they have put their children in harms way will resort to the only psychological response that makes sense, which is denial. Denial has been the American marching order since the pandemic began, and the pandemic is not over.

COVID Dystopia is available to be seen at the Virtual Pittsburgh Shorts Film Festival happening now through November 24, 2024. COVID Dystopia can be seen in the Eventive – Chiller Theater Block 2 – Shorts online. It can be seen anywhere in Pennsylvania, West Virginia and Ohio. After you start watching the films, you have 48 hours to complete watching them. Tickets are $18.

COVID Dystopia is an Official Selection at the Pittsburgh Shorts and Script Competition

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COVID Dystopia is an Official Selection at the Pittsburgh Shorts and Script Competition. The festival helps with travel expenses, so I decided to go for one day to attend the Awards Ceremony. This will the the Pennsylvania and West Virginia  Premiere for the film.

My film is being screened online as part of the Chiller Theater 2 Virtual Block. I am actually pleased that COVID Dystopia will be screened virtual since it means the screening will not help spread the virus. I also suspect people could watch the film multiple times to catch all the detail. There are 8 films in the block and COVID Dystopia is the only animated film. Honestly the film works best when surrounded by edgy, hard hitting, live action films.

COVID Dystopia is available to be seen at the Virtual Pittsburgh Shorts Film Festival happening now through November 24, 2024. COVID Dystopia can be seen in the Eventive – Chiller Theater Block 2 – Shorts online. It can be seen anywhere in Pennsylvania, West Virginia and Ohio. After you start watching the films, you have 48 hours to complete watching them. Tickets are $18.

The Pittsburgh Shorts and Script Competition Closing Night Awards Program, is Sunday, November 24th from ⋅7:00pm to 9:00pm at the Harris Theater (809 Liberty Ave, Pittsburgh, PA). I have learned that it is worth going to the awards ceremonies, because miracles can happen, and some people are seeing truth in my warped world view.

My plan is to fly into Pittsburgh on the morning of the last day of the festival, Sunday November 24, 2024 to see a few films and attend the Awards Ceremony. I booked a room at the hotel that is hosting the filmmakers and then I fly out late the next day. That will give me a day to just hang out in downtown Pittsburgh and do a few sketches. I do hope it is not too cold. Otherwise I will have to figure out a few indoor venues to sketch.

After the festival, I get a rest since there are no other festivals set up yet. I have 6 festivals who are still judging the film. An I have to search for more festivals that seem like the right fit for COVID Dystopia. The film has an 87% rejection rate but when accepted it tends to garner awards. It is just a hard pill to swallow.

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

Posted on by Thor

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

Posted on by Thor

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.