GOTTA KNOW WHERE TO GO

There's a great article in Wired that has me really thinking about how one reaches people, even considering a blog like this one. The general consensus from comments seems to be that most who wrote want the blog to stay. Personally I figured that everything I do here could be accomplished in a regular podcast series, but maybe a combination of both will satisfy everyone.

While it is true that blogging is easier than putting together an entire video podcast, and certainly potentially very easy to do from anywhere (I remember my posts from Chandra Thai on the PSP) , oftentimes my own posts, because I like to find the best images and format my articles well, are quite time consuming. I think as the podcast gets going, a happy medium will likely be found. If there's one thing I see in this Wired article, it's that you not only can't predict what the people will want, but originality and creativity may just get you the audience you never knew existed.

This week, my friends in Tokyo were all chowing down on home-cooked meals courtesy of the Nintendo DS. No, Japan has not yet invented technology that causes fully cooked food to come whizzing out of a game system's cartridge bay. However, they've come up with the next-best thing in Shaberu! DS O-Ryouri Navi, which translates to Talk! DS Cuisine Navigator.

Imagine that! Being a PSP owner I had not set too many sights on the DS until someone sent me that article about Opera on it. Now I am finding that the DS may have more magic up its sleeve than I ever imagined, and is more than worth consideration as a publishing platform. I would have easily thought such a product would have been a simple gimmick, but it sold 120,000 copies in its first week. What's more, you can talk to this thing! How's that for interactivity? You can navigate the cookbook using voice commands like "Next Page" or "Go back". Someone took a chance, a chance not usually taken and found an audience not usually playing.

Thanks to the wide appeal of games like Nintendogs and Brain Age in Japan, you're just as likely to see a DS in the hands of a middle-aged Tokyo housewife as in a teenaged otaku. The fact that the game launched on the same day as a special pink-colored edition of the DS launched didn't hurt, either. Look at Japanese video-game magazine Famitsu's coverage of the launch. Notice all the women and grandparents lining up around the block to get their hands on the DS and you'll see what I mean.

I think the worst thing we can do in this new media age is get caught up in traditional expectations of what an audiences is or what they want. In the U.S> game companies, TV and film producers are still afraid to do that totally out there, different and original thing, and it is on the net where we find the innovation and the minds that are not afraid to try... well, anything!

With its unprecedented appeal outside the traditional "gamer" demographic, the Nintendo DS has become the fastest-selling game console Japan has ever seen. It's nearly impossible to find in stores, and Nintendo is struggling to keep up with demand for the new, slimmer Lite version of the device. This is in sharp contrast to the United States, where Sony's PlayStation Portable outsells the Nintendo DS by a few thousand units every month. In Japan, it's not even a contest. This week, Nintendo moved over 260,000 DS Lites, compared to only 35,000 PSPs.

And here I always thought the PSP was the end all be all mobile platform. A number of podcasters are a little more prepared. While none offer content for the DS, many of 3GP file format for mobile phones and a host of other formats. Why? Because it could be detrimental to think you know who is watching and what they want. I know I didn't think anyone would miss this blog in favor of new media, but the internet audience is vast and infinite!

GIVING UP THE OLD

You know, one of the things that has been really holding me back in the face of all this new technology I acquired is an overwheling desire to not go into dusty boxes and pull out my old audio gear, the mixer, tons of cables, a studio Mic and more just to record audio. My Mac Mini is the tiny box just larger than a CD case and I can scarcely imagine this mixer and a host of wires running around and through it.

I recently picked up a couple of Jam Packs for Garage Band on the Mac and I couldn't believe the power that is given to the user for such a low price. Remember I juse paid about $500 last year for Kontakt 2 which sported a 15GB sound library. Luckily that will work with Garage Band, but I never expected the possibility that I may not need it. The 10GB orchestral Jam Pack library for $99 for Garage Band sounds every bit as good, at least for a night of playing around. The point, though, is that as things get so high tech and prices keep dropping, can I justify having to go pull out all that old gear and clutter a seemingly perfect setup? The answer is no.

Meet the Samson C01U. This is a studio quality condenser Mic that seems poised to deliver sound every bit as good as my expensive Rode NT1000, but without the need for the nanocompressor, mixer, preamp and a ton of cables. This Mic plugs directly into the Mac via USB. I've been all over the web reading reviews and seeing what people have to say and, although there is another seemingly good choice out there, I am convinced thi is the future. For about $80, this is perfectly inline with the new direction for Studio ArtFX. If I get into some traveling, this is a perfect companion for continued production on the road.

BUT THAT'S NOT ALL

I also think it is finally time to give up something else. That is this blog. We live in a fast paced multimedia age and I think it is time for the blog to give way to podcasting/vlogging. I am no longer talking about something far down the road, but ASAP. I can get more information to you quicker using video and show so much more of the process whether than telling about it. With that, I suspect this blog will rap up sometime in August, making for a nice four years of ArtFX content. I will, of course, leave it all online and I will even add the Google search bar which should help with what JasonN suggested to make certain posts more easily accessible. I may also put a top ten list to keep some of the most important posts on the blog's front page. Aside from that, it will soon be time for the next site redesign.

IS CANON TAKING OVER?

Canon has announced a couple of new entries into the low cost prosumer HD camera market bringing 24P recording to the $4000 price point. The Canon XH G1 and the XH A1 are the new kids on the blog to give Sony and Panasonic a run for their money. Boasting many of the same features as their nearly $10,000 XL H1, these new camera systems may just open the doors Canon has been looking for.

The XH A1 is in every way identical to the XH G1, except the A1 does not have the SDI, Genlock or Time Code BNC jacks that are on the G1. This and the price are the only differences between the two cameras. The XH A1 will sell for $3999. The XH G1 will sell for $6999. Both camcorders ship in Q4 2006, around October and November.

I have never been one to be impressed with Canon tools, even though I got some great footage, some may remember seeing in my reel, using the original XL1 MiniDV camera. Still when their first HD solution was announced costing twice as much as the other entries in the market, I just figured there was nothing there to consider. After all, the JVC offered 24P, though at 1280x720, for half the price. Now Canon may have corrected that oversight.
Both cameras shoot 1080i and have a 24 frame mode, meaning if the image quality is there, these may be worth considering seriously when you go to make your indie movie.

THE WEB, THE PLACE TO BE

It's not just in the states where the indie road may prove to be the best mode of expression for animators. According to XINHUA, getting on TV in China, even in their booming local animation scene, may not be all its cracked up to be.
Starting in August 2006, the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television (SARFT) will decide whether or not to approve animated productions every month. Previously, regulators only authorize productions twice a year — in January and July.

Sounds good at first glance, right? More productions will be reviewed and could potentially see the light of day in the Chinese market. Still, there's more to it than that.
The eligible animation must be in line with the ideology and policies of the Communist Party, and those involving sensitive subjects, such as political, military, foreign, religious, ethnic, judicial, police and educational affairs and celebrities, must be referred to the censors for consultation. "The investors and producers will have more time to consider whether to make an animation after both political and commercial factors are taken into account," Ge said.

Thus says Ge Chen, an official of SARFT who believes this move will accelerate the development of TV animation in China. This move doesn't however loosen control over censorship and producers must submit a synopsis of planned productions to SARFT which will announce the approved productions on their website monthly.

In other news, Bauhaus Software, makers of the increasingly popular Mirage animation software, has received a strategic investment from the State of Texas Emerging Technology Fund (TETF). This funding will be used to expand Bauhaus’ development team, invest in more research, develop new products, and augment marketing.

"We are tremendously pleased to see the state investing in our company, and helping support our drive to preserve and extend the art of animation," said Paul Ford, president of Bauhaus. "This capital investment will allow us to both accelerate our development schedule, and significantly expand our product offerings. “

Being a long time Mirage user myself, I am significantly pleased by this news as it means an even brighter future for my favorite software and the crew behind it. None of what I have done would have come to pass without Mirage. Tools and technology are very important to me. While many things which I have done might be possible using other tools, having it in one place and well implemented meant the difference in getting it done and not wanting to bother. Here's to Mirage continuing to go strong!

THE RIGHT EFFECT

Effects animation is something that is rarely talked about on this blog or in internet forums. These days it seems that effects are often immediately assumed to be the realm of 3D particle systems and plugins that do simulation. Is this always the best way to approach it though?

AWN has an article that may prove that people are interested in learning differently.

In this month’s “Animated Scene,” Joseph Gilland gives readers a sneak peek at his upcoming book, Elemental Magic: The Classical Art of Hand-Drawn Effects Animation.

Having worked on films like Mulan and Lilo & Stitch, Joseph Gilland knows his stuff and the book may very well be worth it for those seeking to expand animation horizons. This makes em wonder. To what level would viewers want to see this type of information covered in a podcast series on how to make your own animated shows? This works on two levels. A series like this could not only offer news and information on books and subjects lke this, including reviews, but could also have tutorials on methods for creating effects, both in 2D and in 3D. The question is, do people want to see that?

ANIME WORLD CHANGE

The world of anime is not what it used to be. As it continues to go mainstream, the audience that consumes it is changing. Is your production taking into account this varying face of viewers in the new market? According to Mainichi Daily News, the word from Anime Expo 2006 shows what people may be looking for.

"It was more men before. Nobody knew what anime was. It was a small group of dedicated fans mostly in high school," said Tony Oliver, the voice of hero Rick Hunter from the famed anime television series "Robotech," which ran in the U.S. from 1985 until 1988. Oliver said the reason for the increasingly larger female base is the inclusion of more complicated, emotional plots.

Still, that may only be one aspect of the content that is shaping what appears to be a new audience for anime and manga. There is another, and it deals more with expectations for a higher level of visual appeal. The reason for this may be the popularity of Japanese console games featuring incredible CG visuals and complex storyline like Final Fantasy X.

The changing demographics behind anime and manga also reflect a change in stylistic approach - mostly in the form of computer-generated graphics influenced by video games. Unlike hand-drawn anime, CG features ultra realistic, fluid movements and seamless shadows and light, as in Romanov Higa's futuristic police thriller "Tank SWAT 01." Details, however, may become fuzzed out, and angles distorted. "CG is becoming increasingly less expensive to do," and mass produce, said Oliver, who also directs anime in Los Angeles in addition to his "Robotech" work.

Whether you're doing a web series, a podcast or making DVD's, things are things to consider. Where does your product fit in? Who are you after? Are you giving them what they want? The above image is one of the fruits of my labor over the weekend. I hope to see some major changes in this site throughout the week and perhaps a new site coming up before the weeks end.
Personally, I think all this change in the face of the anime market can only be good for indies, but it's time to get cracking!

POWER AND FOCUS

There were a lot of good words written in the comments on he last post about keeping the motivation up and staying focused on one project. I know for me, one of the most important things that can keep it going is making it as easy as possible to get in and get out of. It's kind of like having a PSP to play a game on as opposed to a console on the main living room system at home. I can pull out my PSP and get in a quick ridge racer race in anytime.

Animation needs to be like that in some ways. It's not a game, so it will never be identical, but the easier it is to get into, the better. I often would not get into my project because the block of time ahead of me was too short. That's actually a bad thought really. Even a 30 minute block can be put to good use. I also used to never turn off my main computer, same as I do at work. A long boot up sequence can easily be a deterrent to do some work if not totally in the mood. Anything I can do to help the process along, I do.
One thing that will really help the process along for me is making greater use of my Motion Computing LE1600 Tablet PC, also known as the Mirage Nomad. It is pictured above with what will be my next purchase. That flat thin attachment on the back is the extended battery which will give it up to 8 hours of life. I also got an extra standard battery, because they are hot swappable, and an external charger so I don't have to use the machine itself to charge them. So why the rush for all this power?

The Nomad, from what I gather on the Motion Computing site, should probably be taken more like a PSP than I originally thought. Most setups and uses which they have thought of seem to expect you to be connected to nothing. This is good actually. By using it constantly powered I limited myself. The biggest limitation was that it created an unwillingness to turn it while drawing. If on paper, I would constantly rotate the paper to get the best line. Remove the power cord from the Nomad and I can freely do that. More importantly, I can feel free to get into it anywhere, not just where there is power. This, I think, will make my show far more approachable and easier to jump into at anytime. It remains to be seen just how much this method of working will contribute to my productivity.

Before my Sony Vaio died, it was often much easier to do something there than to pull out the Nomad from its case, plug it up and boot it, even if the task was really best suited for the tablet. Now with that computer gone, I can keep the Nomad more accessible, as I have space for it to always be out on the desk, and have it ready to quickly boot up and start creating. While these ideas only cover one aspect of productivity, I think accessibility can go a long way to keeping that focus on a favorite project alive.

A STRANGE INTERVIEW

A weekend ago I posted about an indie feat that should have content creators the world over taking notice. I am talking about the stop motion/3D CGI anime inspired feature project We Are The Strange, created by lone artist M. Strange over the course of three years. I was able to get an interview with him and thought his words and ideas would be a great inspiration to anyone with indie dreams.


Terrence:
Tell us a bit of your background. How did you get into animation.

M. Strange:
As a kid I loved Gumby and all the Harryhausen films I saw... I was also really into studying insects and reptiles and amphibians... My first couple years in college I was studying Entomology but I ended up getting my degree in Kinesiology oddly enough which actually helps me animate now... When you really get into insects you see that some of them are like diabolical little monsters that terrorize their own miniature worlds... I'm sure what I learned about them has been put to use in my work now because I have these odd monsters in my films... I also remember taking hours to set up these battle scenes with my G.I. Joe's then I would just sit and look at the scene from all different angles, like I was a little director back then! I started making live action shorts when I got out of high school... Then they got too weird so I started up an underground filmmaking group here in San Jose, Ca and made live action films with that group... then I moved to Los Angeles and started an underground filmmaking group there and made more live action films but they got too weird so everyone left... That's when I started experimenting with animation... when their were no more people to experiment on! If I wanted to keep making my own films I had to do animation as there was no one to make them with...

Terrence:
Have you ever worked at any production studios or done freelance animation for clients?

M. Strange
I've worked a few corporate video jobs which probably scarred me for life... Making DVD's for a wedding video company kinda drove me bonkers... I've done a few animated TV commercials for local businesses here in San Jose, Ca... One in which I animated a "Burritozilla" for a local taqueria was really popular... I also did a few web design gigs... When I lived in L.A. I got offered work on some films but I turned it down because I was working on my own animated films and didn't have time for it and the corporate video jobs were enough money for me at the time.

Terrence:
Have you done any projects prior to We Are The Strange? What were they like and what medium? (animation/live action etc.)

M. Strange:
I've made over 50-70 live action short films... 15-20 animated shorts and one live action feature film in 2000 that I shot on miniDV. I was also into music for awhile... I made 7 or 8 albums, played a bunch of shows in clubs and on the street for practically no one...heh heh...All my stuff was live action until 2002...thats when I first started messing around with claymation and cg animation... I did a few episodes of a claymation series called "Clayfist of the Northstar" it was really rough but people liked it anyway... I did 9 episodes of a mixed media series called "Blue Wander" which has spilled over into "We are the strange" ....The character "Blue" in WATS is the main character from my "Blue Wander" series, the storyline is also connected a little... Yeh nobody really saw any of this stuff except friends and people in the street when I would randomly project it out in public...


Terrence:
What was the genesis of "We Are The Strange"? What led you to make your own film?

M. Strange:
I originally was going to make a feature film based on my "Blue Wander" series but during the development of the script I came up with all these other characters and scenarios that wouldn't have fit in a "Blue Wander" feature so I decided to mix them all into one film... I want to keep making feature films and eventually I'll need other peoples money to do so as the films get bigger and more complex... So my rationale was this... How can I prove to the money people that if given large sums of money I can produce a marketable feature film? Well simple... I make an awesome feature film on my own! I don't see any better way to prove yourself as a feature director... So "We are the strange" was to be my calling card to the world... To introduce myself and my abilities to the world in hopes that I will obtain the resources required to make bigger and better feature films. I've made so many films over the years...both live action and animation...that I knew exactly what my capabilities were when I started WATS... People around me didn't think I could do it but I had done so much testing with the other
films I knew what I could do...

Terrence:
What were the tools used to create your vision? For example, how did you pull off stop motion?

M. Strange:
I shoot the stop motion with a Canon 300d DSLR... I shoot my stop motion "blind" which means I don't use any type of video preview when animating... Ray Harryhausen didn't have any video preview when he animated so I decided to stick to the old school way... It actually taught me what certains motion "feel like" rather than look like... I made all the stop motion puppets from aluminum armature wire and other commonly used materials... I do all my 3d stuff with Cinema 4d and my compositing with After Effects... I edit with Final Cut Pro... My mini render farm is made up of 5 3ghz P4 boxes... I do most of the 3d and compositing work on an AMD x2 based workstation I built.... and I do the editing and general purpose stuff on a Macbook Pro... I'm mixing the film and doing the sound design with Nuendo on my AMD box.. Oh yeh and I have an old HP box that I use as a file server... All the systems are on a gigabit network and plugged into a kvm which share 23" and 20" LCD monitors... Oh yeh and all that stuff as well as my closet green screen are in my bedroom so it does get quite warm...

Terrence:
If there was one tool you couldn't do without, which would it be?

M. Strange:
A fully functioning brain... I have absolute confidence in my creative abilities and I know that I can do good work with whatever external tools that I may have as long as my heads straight... So it doesn't matter what gear or hardware or software I have... I'll make it happen... You can give a person that is lacking in creativity a super computer with the most sophisticated software in the world and put him up against a creatively superior artist with the most rudimentary tools and the more creative person will win time and time again... So I really don't need any tools although I do really really like my Nintendo DS Lite!


Terrence:
What was the most challenging aspect of creating this film?

M. Strange:
Staying with it for so long... I think most artists are flighty and don't want to stick with the same thing for too long and I constantly struggled with it but a quote from the guy that did "Voices of a Distant Star" kept me going... he said something like... It doesn't matter if your anime is long or short as long as you finish it... The real lesson can only be learned when you finish it, so if you give up you fail... Just finishing it is success enough... Hearing "your still not finished?!" from my friends didn't help either... So now I just realized that I have more PC's than I have friends! Haha

Terrence:
The film shows a good eye for lighting and composition. Where did you learn this? (for example from books, watching movies etc.)

M. Strange:
I read about related matters nonstop(mega amazon shopper) and I'm constantly watching my favorite films over and over... I also try to go out and shoot photos with my DSLR whenever I can... I can say for sure that shooting photos with a DSLR camera is the one thing that made my lighting and composition better for this film... Just knowing how real lens blurs are supposed to look and paying attention to how the camera captures things made me better... If you only work with the camera in your 3d app you won't learn much... I used to do things like setting up a scene with an 18mm lens in 3d and then blurring the foreground and background elements but after shooting with a real camera I learned that its not how things work... A lot of it too I guess is just that innate sense of what makes things look nice... But the only difference between my older projects when things didn't look so nice and WATS is that I started using a DSLR camera...

Terrence:
What made you decide on the unique mix of styles you present as opposed to going with something more conventional?

M. Strange:
It was really a matter of necessity... In terms of time and space 3d is certainly the cheapest way to do it... But when I started wats I was fairly confident in doing the backgrounds in 3d but I had no idea how to bone, skin and rig a model so I went with what I new which was stop motion... So that's why there is stop motion character animation in the film...it was the easiest way for me to do character animation at the time... Later in the production I bought these awesome "Cactus Dan" plugins for character animation in Cinema 4d so as the film progresses more 3d characters are introduced because now I know how to do it... So in all my work up until now the only reason the elements are mixed up is because that¹s the only way I knew how to do it which leads me to another inspirational quote whose source I've forgotten "Don't let the things you can't do stop you from doing the things you can"


Terrence:
Are you also doing sound and music on the project? Is it a One-Artist production? How are you going about the audio side of things?

M. Strange:
I've gone through 5 sound designers for the film and just started trying to work with a new one today because the others didn't have time for the project... I was lucky enough to have a really good classically trained Japanese violinist play a live score for the film... Part of which is on the
teaser trailer that's online right now... In the end the sound design and score will be a collaborative effort between me and four or five other people... I've made 4 or 5 tracks for the film and all the themes have been worked out already... For the initial version I'll probably do the 3 male voices for the film... I still have to cast and record the one female role... I am also an audio geek which means that I can handle all the aspects of the audio production if I have to... I use Nuendo for the audio stuff by the way...

Terrence:
What kind of interest has the film generated so far? How are you getting it out there?

M. Strange:
Well not that many people have seen it but the ones that have seem to really be excited about it... I don't have the time right now to promote it which is kinda frustrating... I am trying to finish it in time to make the Sundance film festival deadline which is the second week of September... I have a list of other fests to send it too as well... The film will probably
remain lo-key online... I'm really looking to the festivals to get it seen... I know that's the old way things are done but in the past I just really haven't had any luck getting attention with my stuff online... Films are so overhyped online and who knows how many sites we've all seen for
amazing independent animated films that were never finished... And also I think my film kinda sits in the adult animation niche which isn't too big for English speaking folks... I was staying in Japan when I wrote the script for WATS and the film is heavily influenced by Japanese culture so maybe I need to make a Japanese version of the site to be seen?


Terrence:
You did what most who have animation dreams never do. You got it done! Now what? Where do you go from here?

M. Strange:
Well I'm developing my next 3 feature films right now... My plan is to make 11 straight feature films with WATS being the first in line... So I'm gonna keep making feature films... It doesn't matter if its me alone like it is now or if I have 10 million bucks... I'm gonna do it anyway... It doesn't matter if anyone sees them either... I've decided to make it my life and I'm not going to stop for any reason...

Terrence:
Who were the greatest artistic influences for you? Who inspires you to do what you do?

M. Strange:
The thing that made me want to do animation in the first place was seeing the Cinematics in the very first "Ninja Gaiden" game on the NES... Seriously it changed my life I can't go into how cool I thought those were and I still play the game today just to watch them... Ninja's... monsters... mystery... Suspense... pure evil... I loved it... Today my biggest influences are two manga's... "Berserk" by Kentarou Miura and "Battle Angel: Last Order" by Yukito Kishiro... I read these over and over nonstop... Those two guys are master storytellers and artists I'm constantly amazed and inspired by them... One of my favorite directors is Hideo Gosha... I love his Samurai films...I watch them all the time... "Goyokin" is just magick! I also follow the work of Yoshiaki Kawajiri... "Ninja Scroll" is a perfect film in my opinion and seeing "Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust" on the big screen was amazing... I also like David Lynch, The Brothers Quay... I'm kinda obsessed with the life and music of Beethoven too... Seeing the "Kronos Quartet" perform live also very inspiring... I'm inspired by great artists and their work and I immerse myself in it...

Terrence:
Many dream of doing what you do. You have a completed project under your belt. What advice would you give to those aspiring filmmakers who may follow?

M. Strange:
Well if you really want to do it... Don't listen to anyone and just do it your way...don't worry about making anybody happy but yourself...also don't be a victim to your circumstances..don't make excuses for not being able to do something like I need this software and I need this piece of gear etc... I like to use Beethoven as an inspiring example of someone who overcame their circumstances to create... He was a musician that in the middle of his career went deaf... A musician that cant hear?! Careers over right? NO! He made the best music of his life after he lost his hearing...he said "I will seize Fate by the throat; I shall certainly not let it crush me completely." You probably have a working brain and 2 arms and 2 legs and even if you don't, stop complaining and just get to work! Also, if you want to make a feature make sure you are in love with the idea... It has to be something that excites you... something that keeps you up when you try to go to sleep... Something that you can't stop thinking about over everything else... Be passionate and be bold... Make something powerful or don't make anything at all... What you perceive to be your own limitations could actually become your strengths in the end, so don't be afraid just move ahead... My mixed media style came from my inexperience with 3d character animation, but in the end it has made my film more unique... Also be unique and work HARD to come up with original ideas... They're out there. You just have to detach from the norm to find them... I haven't watched television in 4 years and after I stopped my creativity went through the roof... Get rid of all the "noise" in your life... Don't spend time with people who don't
inspire you or can't help your filmmaking in any way... Make film the most important thing in your life. Strain every experience through your filmmakers sieve and pull out the inspiring bits for use in your films... Love things, hate things.... live with no regrets... A bold life will give you plenty of inspiration for your films... Most importantly take the steps necessary to find out who you are and what you want to say to the world then let your films be your voice for the rest of your life... One more thing... The MOST important thing to your film is the script... Don't even think of starting to model or build the characters or sets until your script is finished and ready to go... The script should stand on its own... it should be interesting and compelling when it is read... The visual interpretation you do later should only enhance the already powerful story you have there on paper... When the script is solid, storyboard the entire film... Every shot yes... Don't think you can make it up as you go along because if your trying to do a feature by yourself you'll fail... After you've storyboarded the entire film, create an animatic from the storyboard and work out all the timing, add temp sound fx and music where needed... If the animatic isn't where it should be, rework the storyboards or script if needed and repeat this process till its tight... After you've cut the animatic generate an EDL of the cut and use those times as a reference when you finally get to animating... Be precise and be stubborn... Keep reworking it all till your pre-production materials are solid so that if someone reads the script or looks at the storyboard or watches the animatic they are able to follow the story and plot points...it should be easily comprehensible at this stage... Then after you've done all that you can, start character design
etc....


Terrence:
What's the next big animated or anime feature you're looking forward to?

M. Strange:
I'm waiting for Kawajiri to make a new feature... Or I wish some new Battle Angel or Berserk anime would be made... There's nothing out there right now that I really want to see because I'm waiting for all you indies to make your films! Those are the ones I want to watch! That's why I visit studioartfx... To see when your new stuff is coming out :) We need new voices and new perspectives... I'm hoping maybe my film will help inspire some people to make their own labor of love features... Thanks for the opportunity Terrence... I hope I didn't blab on too much.

M dot Strange

Not at all. I think a multitude will benefit from your words and be inspired by the project you have done. Thanks for the interview and please keep us posted on the success of We Are The Strange!

CONNECTIONS

The pace of business on the internet is moving extremely rapidly. For the media related business this could mean a lot to how you get your project off the ground. How prepared are you?

Hollywood is making deals with Bittorrent Inc. In attempts to find their place in the digital world. iTunes still has mass market share on digital music, podcasts, and a growing arsenal of mainstream programming. YouTube supposedly has 13 million viewers but they have yet to roll out a business model to turn those eyes into revenue. Some believe that if they switch to subscription fees for that which was free, those millions will abandon them as quick as they did Napster. Many are trying to enter the online video market, but many are folding as well, finding no way to turn a profit. So where does the indie fit in all this?

How the indie carves a niche into this world is going to become far more about how that indie relates to their users than anything else. They key will be to become more than just another faceless product. Look at Bauhaus Software. Check out their forums. Look at the community they built and look at the level of involvement of their primary staff, to say nothing of some big name pro animators. Mirage is a great product, but the level of community fostered by its makers has built loyalty that no big corporation could ever buy.

A blog, a podcast, a newsletter, maybe all of the above should be on the mind of any content creator hoping to connect with users. How are you reaching people?

They ARE Out There

With indie titles out there like Pale Cocoon, Kaze: Ghost Warrior and Voices of a Distant Star, or the many works being put out by Comix Wave, it is clear there is a movement underfoot. Some projects are larger than others. Some have different levels of exposure than others. Even as indie projects are becoming more popular, it is amazing to think that there are lone artists out there striving to make their dreams come alive on screen. They are creating projects that will dazzle you. They are making films that rival the best the majors have to offer. One such artist is M dot Strange with his stop motion/3D CGI animated movie We Are the Strange.

I'm just an unknown regular guy with 9 PC's in a bedroom, all self taught and definitely not rich.

Strange wrote in an email to me earlier. After looking at his website for the film, I can tell you that it is a rare thing to come across a project of such real innovation these days. The visuals in the trailer are striking and unique and it becomes clear the amount of effort and passion that went into them. The trailer also shows, however, that there is a lot more going on here than just stunning imagery.



I'm a tech-head but I'm more into the storytelling stuff, creating emotive characters, suspense, and drama...

The trailer certainly indicates that a lot of thought went into crafting a compelling story. I can't wait to see more. I will be on the lookout for more We Are The Strange as it progresses. I think it would be good to get an interview with indie creator M dot Strange as well. I'll see if I can swing that. I think many of us who are interested in creating our own dreams and films could stand to learn a lot from what Strange might have to say.

A NEW LIFE

So I started delving into the wonder that is iLife. Let me give you an idea of how easy it will be to do my future projects here. I was just giving a demo to a friend of mine of software I had never used before. That's how easy it is. I opened iMovie and the magic began.

iMovie has a clips menu which lets you import any clips you like into it. These can then be dragged onto the timeline for editing. So I took some clips from my demo reel and dragged them into the edit. My friend asked about transitions like fading something out. So I said, "Well let's see." I went to the transitions menu and found the fade out button. I dragged it onto one of the clips in the timeline and the fadeout was there, ready to play. We did the same with cross dissolves. He then asked about titles. So I went to the titles menu and selected a button called "Far, far away". As you can imagine, in Star Wars type fashion, text began to scroll back over the screen. There was a box into which I could type anything I wanted. I noticed a button that said "over black", so I checked it off. Now the titles scrolled over the top of my images. It was that easy.

The most interesting aspect was the "share" folder, which listed iWeb, iDVD and Garage Band. The other day I was amazed at Garage Band as a put together a quick little clip in no time at all using loops and playing an on screen piano over the top. When I clicked on the Garage Band share, that song I did was in the list. I dragged it onto the timeline and an audio track opened up and the clip went into it. Now I could play my quick demo with a sound track. I could also easily publish to the web. It's so easy it should be illegal.

I can clearly see that this is where it will happen for the next phase of Studio ArtFX. With these tools I can finally do, as a one man production, the kinds of things I have always wanted to do. Apple is really removing the last few barriers to indie expression with tools like this. It reminds of when the first Amiga Video Toaster came out in 1990 or so. The wall to anyone having their own show came down. If I hadn't mentioned it already, there was also Comic Life which is like the easiest manga tool imaginable. What will I do with all this power?