COVID and the Brain

Posted on by Thor

I know I have written about this before but there are new studies that confirm the damage that even a mild COVID infection can cause to the brain.

A new study published in Nature Microbiology found that a COVID infection is associated with short and long term neurological complications.

Cultures were collected and compared, from people without COVID and postmortem samples from people with COVID. COVID is known to cause multi organ damage.

In another study brain autopsies were done on 44 unvaccinated individuals who died from COVID-19. The goal was to map the cell structure damage. The virus was found to replicate in respiratory and multiple non-respiratory organs including the brain. The virus was found to be replicating in the brain as much as 230 days after infection. In some patients the virus can cause systemic infection and persist in the body for months.

COVID can cause multi organ failure and shock. Some who survive, suffer from Long COVID for months or years.

COVID can cause severe neurological symptoms. COVID causes neurons in the brain to fuse. Every neuron that fused with any of the cells that hold nerve cells in place, presented a complete loss in neuronal activity. This fusion is a progressive event. Symptoms can consist of headache, fever, confusion, epileptic seizures, and a loss of taste or smell. Long-term and chronic neurological manifestations derived from viral neuroinfections are finally gaining attention five years into the pandemic. However this is an election year so there will be little talk about COVID. Hospitalizations are down to about 6000 COVID patients per week, which is the lowest it has been for years. However I am waiting for the shoe to drop on another wave.

The illustration consists of MRI scans of my brain. I am fascinated at how it interconnects with the eyes and nose. If you ever wonder why I mask indoors, it is because I value this squishy little organ that throws so many random thoughts around each day. When neurons fire, I can see things vividly. Feeling the need to fit in with the crowd is not my strong suit. Crowded restaurants and social events no longer hold any appeal. Traveling to film festivals, promoting COVID Dystopia are my one exception, but I remain masked from start to finish. Perhaps in my health’s favor, many festivals are not willing to screen the film.

COVID Dystopia: But I Can’t Let It Go

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This shot from COVID Dystopia just has a depth map applied right now. It follows the wacky wacky tube men shot which is highly active.

I now realize that I need to add more animation to this shot. I can make the girl and all the demons look like they are walking by just moving them left to right and adding some up and down motion. By altering the strides of each they can move independently without much effort.

I am also considering having the demon in front raise his hand an put it on the girls shoulder. I already animated a candle flame for the melting Giuliani shot, so I should be able to import that an duplicate it for all the flames.

I haven’t animated a shot in the film for the last week and thought I might be finished, but sometimes when I share a shot here, I realize there is room for improvement. I have started considering the story line of another short animation but I want to take care that the story being developed has heart and is more linear than COVID Dystopia. I also want to start designing the COVID Dystopia book but I am wondering if I should self publish or seek out a publisher. I am at a cross roads and want to be sure COVID Dystopia is locked in as I begin exploring the next phase.

COVID Dystopia: Yea, I should Go

Posted on by Thor

This was probably the most complex scene to animate in COVID Dystopia. I learned so much about rubber hose animation and overlapping action by doing this shot.

I am sure most people have blocked the fact that on New Year’s Eve in 2021, Times Square had no live spectators. They filled the square with Wacky Wavy Balloon Arm Men so the shots on TV would appear less deserted and more active. This was American ingenuity at work.

Right now the COVID hospitalization have dropped down to a rather high base line. England is seeing a rise in cases and as always I am sure America will follow. Now is a good time to get those medical appointments set up since this is as low as it will go before another spike in cases. We are coming off of the JN1 spike and new variants are jockeying for dominance for the next spike. The Omicron spike was huge,  so each new wave seems small in comparison. People cave been conditioned to accept mass infection.

I have stopped drinking milk because bird flu (h5N1) has infected so many dairy cow herds in America. 33 herds have tested positive so far. The cows were likely infected from chickens. Cow feed is actually laced with chicken droppings.

One in five samples of commercially available milk in stores has been found to test positive for h5N1. The hope is that pasteurization will kill the active virus, but pasteurization temperatures are not standardized. Until there is more testing, and no active virus is found in any samples, I remain cautious.

This morning I tried Almond milk on my cereal and it was actually really good. I am also thinking about making breakfast smoothies in the morning, again with almond milk and fruit like blueberries and bananas. I have made some eggs over the last week but I am making sure I cook them extra well so that they are not runny. I have one small packet of vegan cheese left over and I am thinking of switching over to vegan cheese to see how that tastes.

The primary concern should probably not be the consumption of the virus. I am sure it is airborne and that will be the primary way it spreads. Early reports are that human to human transmission has not yet happened. Then again that is what was being reported in China at the start of the COVID outbreak. Only two proteins are keeping human to human transmission from happening. I have learned to respect viruses. They are tenacious and will find a way to spread. Humans are the best mammalian host to spread the virus world wide. Since h5N1 has a 52% mortality rate, this would be a horrible outbreak if it happens.

Cleveland Airport

Posted on by Thor

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.

COVID Dystopia: Golden Toilet

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This shot from COVID Dystopia has the former president tapping his iPhone while sitting on his golden toilet. The only animation is his finger poking the screen.

The camera pans down to show his pants wrapped around his ankles. The depth map for this scene works surprisingly well the sink in particular appears quite dimensional.

For a film made by traditional means using paintings and hand drawn animation the added layer of depth maps helps push each scene to a new level. It is a low tech Analog film with the added benefit of depth maps for a Digital dimensional World.

Now that production on the film is over. I am considering the idea of starting a second animated film. This one would have a more linear story line. I want to read a few books on story structure before I start.

Last night I typed out the events that would transpire. I need to edit that more today to fill in holes that I discovered. I probably will not write much about this project until I am 1000% committed. For whatever reason all the elements of this story surfaced when I had to move my studio.

COVID Dystopia: Till the Internet Went Down

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Animation in this shot form COVID Dystopia is limited to a depth map and camera move. You would think that this man would be out of the news by now but he still gets endless coverage due to his criminal trials and the fact that he is running for office again.

Now he sends out tweets during his trail claiming that thousands of his followers might invade the courthouse and he claims the judge isn’t qualified. It is just the usual rantings of a mad man. I should have put him in a straight jacked in this shot, but then he could not hold his precious phone.

Yesterday I finished the last two shot that I had correction notes for. I will go over the notes I wrote her over the past several weeks but I am feeling the film is complete.

No I face the challenge of what to do next. I can start designing the book, but I wold prefer to have a publisher rather than self publish. I would hate to print a whole lot of books that then say in boxes unsold.

H5N1 is also on the horizon with American cow herds being infected far more than previously suspected. One dairy farmer in Texas was infected from direct contact. Human to human transmission has not yet happened. At the start of the COVID outbreak in China all officials claimed the virus could not spread between humans as well. THey wanted to pacify the populace rather than warn them.If that does happen the h5N1 pandemic would be far worse than the COVID pandemic with a possible 56% mortality rate. The virus has been detected in commercially available milk but it is believed that those are viral fragments that can not cause infection. If this virus does spread we have the tools to stay safe but people have bee too well trained in denial and dark ages ignorance. People can not take precautions against something they can not see.

COVID Dystopia: Breach the Grave to Claim the Crown

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Queen Elizabeth died after a bout of COVID 19. Her cause of death was listed as “Old Age”. She died 7 months after her initial COVID infection. She reported that the virus left her feeling very tired. Old Age is not a cause of death. It is a shame no better report is available.

One online gossip site, website Hollywood Unlocked, falsely reported in February of 2022 that the she had died at the age of 95 from COVID-19. The site didn’t credit any official royal sources, but Hollywood Unlocked CEO and founder Jason Lee took to his Twitter at the time to back up the outlet’s report. “We don’t post lies and I always stand by my sources,” he wrote at the time. After the palace reported that the Queen was still alive, Hollywood Unlocked issued a statement on social media apologizing for the incorrect story and blaming the report on an “intern journalist” who “published the draft post by mistake.

The queen did die 7 months later on September 8, 2022 at 96 years old. I am not saying the COVID infection killed the queen,  but it didn’t help her health. COVID attacks the heart, the brain and every organ that is a part of the vascular system. Even “Mild” cases of COVID damage the immune system and damage organs that can cause death months or years later.

In this shot from COVID Dystopia, I used Volumax Portrait to build a depth map of the queens face. She gently rotates for the duration of this one second shot. No other animation is needed since it is simply a portrait shot.

Today I am working on making a framework rural home explode. I have it worked out where I need to animate 14 frames of the building expanding and roof tile flying upwards.

The challenge is in deciding how much of the house I should hide behind the explosion and how much of the framework I should keep showing. I worked until I dropped last night and I hope to finish that today.

I have started getting to rehearsals to sketch, so those are being interspersed among the film I shots I am posting in order.

I looked back at a Facebook post from back at the beginning of the pandemic. Back then people loved what I was doing and suggested I should make a book of the work. Today, I am convinced people hate the work and wish it would quietly go away since they are pretending that life is back to normal, just with more sickness and death.

COVID Dystopia: Breached the grave

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I had to animate this scene twice because I first animated the scene a resolution that was too low. The scene is working fine now. The film was rejected by another film festival yesterday. This has to be the most hated film festival jurors see. I feel it is my responsibility however to keep putting it out there to be seen. I feel I have to keep reminding audiences that the airborne virus has not magically disappeared just because a politician lifted the National Emergency. COVID is a seasonal virus the seasons are Spring, Summer, Fall and Winter. The virus is not getting milder. The virus is not a cold. The virus is not a flu. The virus wreaks havoc on the immune system making people more prone to there infections. The virus fuses brain neurons and damages blood vessels and the heart. The virus is airborne traveling long distanced in the air like smoke or perfume. We always has simple measures to stop the spread such as properly worn N-95 masks, HEPA air filters and proper ventilation. The vaccines to not stop infections from happening. They do help prevent hospitalizations and immediate death. Each repeat infection makes it probably that the person will develop long COVID and become disabled.

I only have a few more scenes that need touch ups in this film. Yesterday I wanted to refine the Zeus scene but I was unable to find the After Effects file. I will have to search for the scene again today. I will be teaching virtual art classes for six hours and then sketching a production of Who is a Afraid of Virginia Wolf. Hopefully I will find the file I am looking for late tonight.

I am searching for late night sketching opportunities. Many of my virtual classes end at 8pm so sketching rehearsals is often out of the question. If anyone has suggestions on late night events that are ripe for sketching, let me know. I usually have topics ready to pursue and sketch, but right now, I am searching for what is next.

COVID Dystopia: Back to Normal

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I like the animation for this Maya sacrifice scene.I did a very fast hand swipe down into the chest cavity with a big smear frame for one of the hands. Once a hand rests on the victim it became a held cell. Even the animation of the blood drops came off pretty effortlessly. The skull mask was added to the animated scene. The original illustration did not have the mask.

There is depth added to the scene but it is hardly noticeable since only the temple in the background is affected. Head tilts on supporting characters finish off the animation.

Yesterday I reworked two of the early scenes in the film, adding a blink to the fortune teller scene and a blink to the guy turning his head n the rhino scene. The rhino scene is a bit low res, but I don’t think it is worth it to totally rework everything. I added a sharpen effect to the head turn animation and hope that improved the look a a bit.

Today I plan to animate some sea foam coming off the bow of a life boat. I also plan to animate the oars as well. As it is now it is very clear it is a held cell being moved. The extra animation should help bring the scene to life. I am also considering adding snap zoom effects back as a transition between each stanza of the lyrics. In the timeline seen above each stanza has a different color. I am not sure if I am committed to this idea but I want to play wit it as a possibility.

By the end of this week I want to consider the film complete. Most festivals refuse to show the film because they have embraced the idea that their festival has moved beyond the pandemic. No one wants to look back and certainly no one wants to be told the pandemic is ongoing. The film now has just a 16% acceptance rate. That seems insanely low to me, but perhaps that is normal. Who knows.

COVID Dystopia: Flaming Baby Close Up

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This close up of the flaming baby has a depth map which makes the face turn with the camera move. The hand drawn flames and breath are the animated elements. With so many people expressing an interest in seeing a longer slower version of the film, I am in a pickle. Part of me wants to storyboard a more linear story structure that is easier for an audience to digest. After the screening of COVID Dystopia I could feel the audiences stunned silence before the applause. Perhaps they were thinking, “is that it?” I also don’t give the audience a chance to identify with any single character which they could root for.

Having spent a two solid days watching short films, I have a billion ideas about what could make COVID Dystopia even better. Whoever, Though I am still making tweaks to animation that needs improvement, I will not start an overly ambitious longer form of the short. I have to live with how it has turned out. The Seattle Film Festival turned down the film as soon as I got back from Cleveland. COVID Dystopia had only a 17% acceptance rate. Film Freeway has claimed that is a good acceptance rate but that is hard to believe.

I will keep promoting the film at festivals because I think people need a swift slap in the face to remind them that the pandemic is not over. There might not be another huge spike like the Omicron wave, but people are dying from COVID at the same rate as automobile accident deaths. The vaccines are helping prevent death and hospitalizations, but vaccines don’t prevent infection.  Most of the population has embraced mass infection. The virus decimates the immune system. Meanwhile Long COVID keeps disabling people. Every repeat infection increases the chance of people developing Long COVID.