COVID: Premiere

Posted on by Thor

The film, COVID had it’s premiere at Fringe this year in the visual artists area. I had screened a film several years ago and that screening happened in the outdoor tent behind the Shakes. In my Facebook invite that is where I directed people. I got to the outdoor tent about half an hour before the screening began. It was surprisingly light outside but I started blocking in my sketch, thinking I would sketch the audience as they arrived.

I was still blocking in my sketch in pencil when I began to realize that the movie screen had not been set up yet. Pam and several friends arrived. And Pam decided to go in the shakes and figure out where the screening was happening. Andy Matchett, who wrote the amazing single that is the basis of the short, showed up and we went inside together to see if the screening was indeed inside.

The screening was actually in the round planetarium room which was being used for visual Fringe. There was a full crowd. I realized that I didn’t have the time to complete a sketch, so I sat and relaxed for the show. The pencil sketch I had started is under the sketch I have posted here. I didn’t have an erased so it can be seen faintly underneath this quickly executed sketch.

Most of the seats were taken so we sat at the kids table to watch which was separated from the main audience. Since chairs had run out a comfy recliner was pulled away from the wall and I offered it to Andy. He deserved it since his music is amazing and the show Key of E had premiered at Fringe 10 years prior. The singe I built the short around is “I just Can’t Wait (for the game to end)” and every word feels like it is about the COVID pandemic and a desire to return to normal. The song was written in 2013 but it feels like it was written in 2020 or today. I consider Andy a profit, though he hates for me to say that.

My film COVID was the only one that required a warning in case people wanted to shield themselves from the reality I was showcasing. After the screening we went to the outdoor beer tent. I was masked all night except for the moments I was downing a Hefferweisen beer. Being unmasked I was calculating wind directions and my distances from others. I usually insist on 22 feet of distance but that distance broke long enough for me to drink the beer and try the schnitzel. Pam went to order some schnitzel and in the time she was getting that I finished this sketch. I realized that I had left my pen at home, so this sketch was done with a colored pencil.

Before I finished the sketch, a singer in a captains cap and a uniform came over and asked if I was Thor. He thanked me for the work I had done for the opera in the past and he was glad I was out sketching theater on location again. It was nice to sketch live theater again but it is exhausting navigating in a world where people think the pandemic is over and I know the pandemic is far from over. A black N-95 is now a part of my everyday sketch uniform.

 

Poster Evolution: Kinky Boots Final

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Kinky Boots was a really fun poster to design. The idea came from watching  Hollywood Bubsby Berkely dance numbers. I saw one scene there the camera trucked down between a long row of dancers legs. I watched YouTube videos of various productions go get an idea of what the show was like but unfortunately I missed the show at the Shakes. I have been so caught up in the film production that the show slipped past my radar.

It is a really fun production, I am rather sad that I missed it. It is about an old show factory in England that has run across hard times since they only produce old fashioned shoes that are going out of style. The entire staff including inflexible yokels are set the task of producing Kinky Boots to keep the business alive. It is a joyous musical.

Anyway my COVID film is wrapped up and I am looking for ways to promote it. I don’t know how to get The challenge will be to get as many eye balls as possible to see it in the coming weeks. The world premiere will be May 19, 2023 at the free Fringe Film showcase inn the Shakespeare outdoor courtyard. I had to put a warning in front of the film. This has to be the first time an Fringe animated film had had a warning. I can’t wait to see how an audience reacts. I’ll be there with my mask on.

Pandemic Film: Digital Depth

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Today at the last second this shot replaced a shot of a couch potato lounging with the virus with beer bottles and pizza strewn about. In this shot children inspect the virus with their cell phones. It tied in better with the lyrics. The other issue with the couch potato is that it depicted Mark Wahlberg. Pam picked up on that fact and I realized that if the star caught her attention I might want to change it so the scene would not be about star identification.

This is a depth map I just painted to fix an issue I noticed in the final render of the film. The virus became distorted around the children;s heads so I went in and darkened the negative shapes between them. The fix might not be in the film shown at the free Fringe screening on May 19, 2023 at 6pm in the Shakes outdoor courtyard. I will probably cut this into future edits that will make the rounds at film festivals.

Today I got caught up in trying to complete a final render. The computer kept freezing just as the audio stated in the film. After hours of research I found that the bitrate didn’t match between the audio clip in the timeline and the final output. I had to change the render bitrate from 384 to 320 and then all was well. This type of arbitrary tech stuff is soul crushing but I managed to get the render completed. Pam is going to coach me on how to submit the film using Google Docs. Today I counted and there are over 200 paintings in the animated short I am submitting.

May 11, 2023 the United States is dropping the COVID state of emergency. All future medical expenses are out of pocket for any American infected. The pandemic is not over but the state of emergency is. May 11. 2023 therefor is this films birthday.

Pandemic Film: New Year

Posted on by Thor

This is the most fun shot I worked on yesterday. At first I created a depth map that included the skeleton, but when I started animating the confetti, I quickly discovered that it overlapped him in awkward ways. I decided the skeleton had to have his own layer and he was only overlapped by the upper most confetti animation that I added at the end.

The camera pans down and with the parallax, Times Square seems cavernous. Each confetti layer was moved at different rates. The top layer moved the most and less movement occurred moving back in space.  The shot took several hours to composite but it lasts on the screen for less than a second. It was worth it.

In some ways the film is organized chronologically, in that each year with a new refrain a painting is highlighted for that years Time Square celebration. In other ways the film is arranged thematically based on the lyrics of Andy Matchett‘s song, Just Can’t Wait. The song was written in 2017 for the Fringe show Key of E, which was an apocalyptic rock musical. In so many ways the lyrics are prophetic about the way the COVID pandemic unfolded and continues to unfold.

On May 11, 2023 the United States will end its COVID public health emergency. May 11, 2023 will be this film’s birthday. 1,128,404 Americans have died of COVID-19, with about 200 more still dying every week. 250,000 American children have lost a parent. Millions of Americans are suffering from long COVID. Loneliness may not be the worst thing to come from the pandemic.

COVID is airborne, the pandemic is far from over.

Visual Fringe

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The Orlando Fringe Winter Mini-Fest is January 9-12, 2020 inside the Lowndes Shakespeare Center at Orlando’s Loch Haven Park.  I saw several Facebook posts about the Visual Fringe tent and had to head out to see it for myself. The Visual Fringe is headed up by the incomparable actress, Melanie Leon whose comedic prowess has livened up several of the shows I have sketched at Fringe and around town. In front of the Visual Fringe tent were about a dozen orange lawn chairs so that an audience could sit of they liked to watch all the at happening.  I was happy to sit in a chair (theater seat) and started sketching. Melanie and George Cudo were seated in front of me. She joked with me and made me feel very much welcome.

I sketched Warren Hart (Famous After Death) who was working on a bold robotic image painted on a board covered in newspaper clippings. I loved the Famous After Death tag an wish I had thought of it. Also working was Osha Awesome who was doing a mixed media piece with melted crayons. Famed beside her were several framed Yin and Yang symbols with rainbows of melted wax.

After sketching Famous After Death, I checked out his portfolio on the table. It was a thick book full of gorgeous bold poster imaged from movies and other themes. I heard that he produces the work in Illustrator but he also explained that the iPad and Procreate have changed the way he works. He is desperately hoping that Procreate eventually gets vector based features which means images created could be blown up to any size. Since I have fallen in love with the program as well, we had much in common. It was awesome to meet another artist who is embracing technology in their everyday creative process.

Tonight is the last night of the Fringe Winter Mini Fest. To see a show you need to buy a $3 Mini Fest Button. Show tickets are separate and prices vary. Some shows I had sketched before during the 2019 Fringe.

The remaining shows…

12:45am Staged Reading Series: Gertrude Stein’s Do Let Us Go Away, a play.

12:45am Staged Reading Series: Spider Queen.

2:15pm Winnie’s Roch Cauldron Cabaret.

2:30pm 90 Lies an Hour.

2:45pm The Myrtle Sisters – Out of Time.

4:00pm St Kilda

4:20pm Danny Darkly’s California Screaming.

4:30pm The Dissection of a Mixed Heritage Woman.

5:45pm Six Chick Flicks. (SOLD OUT)

6:15pm Eddie Poe.

6:15pm The Lightweight.

7:30pm How to Really, Really, Really Love a Woman.

8:00pm Larry.

8:00 My Left Tit.

9:15pm Becoming Magic Mike: An Action Adventure Comedy.

9:45pm Flori-DUH.

Pepe’s Truth or Dare Dating Gayme

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To celebrate Pride Week here in Orlando I arranged with Rob Ward to sketch one of Orlando’s favorite Fringe and SAK Comedy Lab performers, Pepe!

Pepe brings an over-the-top performance and interactive LGBT Version of the classic Dating Game show, as three sexy singles play Truth or Dare to win an all expenses paid date. The tickets to get into the show at the Savoy (1913 N Orange Ave, Orlando, FL) were rainbow wrist bands.

Pepe stood like a giant in his huge platform shoes and bright pink mow hawk. Even before the game got underway, he shouted out, “FREE JELLO SHOTS Beetches!” He instructed us on the proper way to rim the cup with our tongue or finger and then suck down the shot. Pam informed me that apparently I did everything wrong trying to rim the edge with my tongue and also scoop it up like an ant eater. The end result was that much of the jello remained in the cup. I was so anxious to sketch that I didn’t go back into licking the half full cup. My hands were busy on the page.

The lead contestant wore a blue t-shirt that said simply, “Send Nudes.” Pepe put a blindfold on him and then introduced the three contestants who would compete for his blind attention. Pepe played up the notion that the contestant was a hunk, not a Rhodes scholar. When the three other contestants came out I recognized the center contestant as a dancer and Fringe Performer. When he was asked “TRUTH or DARE!” He picked the dare. He was tasked with slipping a condom on a semi-large dildo the lead contestant was holding in his lap. He however could not use his fingers to unroll the condom. He managed to convince the lead contestant to to the hard work of getting the condom unrolled with his mouth as he thrust the condom deep into his mouth. It was hilarious but not as sketch worthy as someone on their knees doing the job with plenty of head bobbing.

Another contestant took a dare built around an iconic scene from Lady and the Tramp. He wasn’t a fan of Disney movies, but he had to eat a meat stick at the same time as the lead contestant until their lips met. The resulting meat mouthed kiss that followed was impassioned. Another contestant had to talk dirty while his mouth was stuffed full of cotton candy. The resulting muffled mumbling sounded more like he was grunting into a pillow. One woman in the front row must have had too much to drink since she nodded off while her friend shouted, “TRUTH OR DARE!” so loud that Pepe had to dial he back a touch to get the desired subtle effect. AS he said you don’t just shove it in you have to have some gentle foreplay.

Lisa donated a bandanna for the next dare that involved some sexy dancing that the lead contestant couldn’t see but the audience hoots and hollers must have peeked his curiosity. The bandanna was used to hide any dangling bits when the pants came down. When the red bandanna was passed back through the audience to Lisa, she gave it a healthy sniff and clutched it to her heart.

The show was over before my sketch was complete so I rushed to finish up as the audience filtered out into the bar. This was an over the top fun night that was a great intro the the Pride festivities. The Pride Parade is TODAY from 3:30pm until 5:30pm at Lake Eola. Pride is celebrating 15 years in the Central Florida community, as well as
50 years since Stonewall – a half-century of LGBTQIA+ liberation.

One of the most eagerly anticipated events of Pride Week, this year’s
festival and parade will feature more than 100 groups spanning a 1-mile
route through downtown Orlando. Throughout the day, guests can enjoy
live entertainment at multiple stages around the park, including
celebrity headliners.

My Left Tit at Fringe

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My Left Tit, written by Gwen Edward, is about two years in the lives of a cancer patient and her faithful mutt, Omie, from initial diagnosis, through experimental treatments, up until the final hours. Brandon Roberts played all the parts in this play about facing a horrible diagnosis and a pup’s faithful love and devotion given with boundless energy. Roberts shifted quickly back and forth between the heart felt monologue of the female owner and the endearing antics of her energetic pup. Lighting cues helped separate these quick mercurial jumps back and forth.

The pup dreamed of chasing fireworks that exploded in the sky. Like Wile E. Coyote in  the roadrunner cartoons, he ordered packages that would arrive at the doorstep. Any time the doorbell rang he would bark wildly and bound down the aisles of the theater. He constantly bragged that his front paws were like lion’s paws. His energy and enthusiasm were a stark contrast to the female owner’s heartfelt reflections on life and her gallow’s humor in the face of death.

Only days before seeing the show, my pup had cornered a baby possum, which she then chomped on and dragged to the center of the back yard. She dropped it on a dead patch of lawn and the possum lay still as death. I grabbed her leash before she bit it again and dragged the pup inside. I returned to the baby possum to see it lying lifeless, but breathing. I ran inside to call animal services and as I did, I saw the possum get up and walk calmly away into the bushes. I  forgot that possums play dead as a survival mechanism. For this reason, I identified with the stuffed possum that was strewn on the stage.

For any dog owner who understands the endless support and devotion of an energetic pup, this was a heartfelt show with humor to balance out the harsh reality we all must face someday.

Static at Fringe

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New Vintage Ensemble, from New Orleans, LA, presented Static, a hybrid theater, live concert production that told the story of a son using music as a means to cope with losing his father to dementia.

The show is the work of playwright Connor Kelly O’Brien, who created it after hearing Daniel Amedee’s music. The theater was dark and on the black curtain behind the performers, projections moved with the forms’ outlines in white.  I could decipher some street scenes and pedestrians moving. The theater remained dark for the duration of the show with isolated spot lights focusing on each performer, in turn, as they traded back and forth while the narrative progressed.

Connor sat house left, going through boxes of his past memories. He was never as close as he hoped he could be to his father. As his father developed dementia and his days were numbered, the son decided to take him on a road trip to try and rekindle some form of connection. The show was about the love between people and the way we cope with the hard things in life.  

All the music by Daniel was original and mesmerizing. This wasn’t your typical musical stage production. The dark, brooding production left in its wake sadness at the ways people deflect from any form of connection, with idle conversation that never gets to the heart of what should be said. Though the play felt like a personal reflection on loss, it was fictional.

The Hammered Dog at Fringe

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Freeline Productions, from Orlando, presented Hammered Dog in the Red Venue at Fringe.

Shy, insecure, and emotionally fragile, Sandra (Sarah Lockhard) met the handsome, sexually possessive Ted (Steven Johnson) at a nightclub  Sandra was clearly unsure of herself in the loud club, but when she spotted Ted, she perked up. She hesitated before approaching him and when she finally worked up the nerve, he turned to walk away and her drink splashed on his shirt. Her cursed and stormed off. Later she considered cutting herself in the alley, but he intervened, becoming her knight in shining armor. The title of the play came from Ted describing other men he would make fun of at the club. He would watch them get hammered and then try and hit on women. He would laugh at their failures and then hit on the girls himself since he was such a catch. He called these losers Hammered Dogs. I despise those who denigrate others in an attempt to raise their own self-worth.

This chance interaction quickly led to an intense, volatile relationship. He had to be the most self-absorbed and lazy boyfriend of all time. When she offered him a home cooked meal, he insisted she get him a Publix rotisserie chicken instead. It was his one redeeming quality, since Publix does have some good chicken. He was jealous at every turn, saying she was lucky to have found him. He was one of the most repulsive characters I have seen on stage.

Ted’s horrible behavior mirrored behavior she had experienced from her dad in the past. Her only life line was a gay older co-worker (Todd Allen-Long) who helped her out and listened to her, hoping she could get her life back on track. His affection and support would have driven Ted mad. So each intimate conversation was a ticking time bomb.

Under the strain of her obscure past and Ted’s emotional manipulation, her life took a fateful turn.  Some wounds never heal.

Tickets for Hammered Dog are $12 plus the $10 Fringe Button.

Only one show date remains and that is tonight:

Sunday, May 26, 2019 9:15 PM to 10:15 PM

Dandy Darkly’s All Aboard at Fringe

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Dandy Darkly’s All Aboard was a high energy hour of sinister story telling. “Where were you the night the Gaybird Steamer ran off her tracks?”
Resplendent storyteller Dandy Darkly served up another audacious hour of
hypnotic Southern Gothic grotesquery: creepy robots, African spider
gods, beauty shop gossip and inbred redneck freaks. Oh, also trains!

An ongoing stream in the flowing story line was the mass marketing of Lollybot, a toy that every child had to have. It had a hypnotic single eye. Of course, I couldn’t help but think of the pink Lollybot of Dog-Powered Robot fame. The mastermind behind his marketing mania was similar to Henry F. Potter from It’s a Wonderful Life. He only cared about the money that could be made. Greed ruled supreme.

The story told was delivered at a feverish pitch the entire show, much slipped by me as I concentrated on the details of costuming and the set. Giant golden spiders embellished Dandy’s shoes and lapel. Tassel’s waved and Dandy gestured. Glittering golden tights and puffy sleeves fully engrossed my attention. A golden goblet on a tiny side table lit by candles, was used to quench Dandy’s parched lips when he needed to pause to let a story point sink in.  A quilt of spiders, pumpkins, top hats, Easter eggs, presents, and a one-eyed robot acted as a backdrop for all that unfolded.

The existential world of the south he painted was dark, mysterious, and sinister. Danger loomed at every turn.

Tickets are $12 plus a $10 Fringe button.

Remaining show times are:

9:00 PM

2:45 PM