Nashville: Step Two

We have returned. We have footage. We are starting to cut today, the next new single for Ben Folds. Shooting went as well as could be expected for such short notice and we've got some great stuff. There was an exciting kamikaze feel to it: running about on an ever evolving plan, getting some great stuff on the fly. There were some sizable downsides and repercussions to little sleep and food but we adapted and got what we needed to cover four minutes of song. We're editing at a similar whirlwind pace to make some exciting deadlines. We'll see what happens.

I hear there's this girl that just finished shooting a bunch of animation for her short film. I'm hoping to get more info on that soon.

Mission: Nashville

I have a pirate suit in a suitcase. I'm heading to Nashville with the gang. We're making a music video this weekend. I'll be the designer, best boy, dolly grip, set and talent dresser and half an assistant director. We'll take pictures.

At Last: UPDATE photo

As of October 8th, at about 1 o'clock in the morning, shooting was officially wrapped on Bony Lil's Creation. After a year and half of trial, toil and little bitty pieces of paper, the animation is complete and all that remains is the aural. I aim to celebrate by getting some rest and bursting out of the gate tomorrow; cutting the shiny new footage together. Oh Happy Day.

Good Fun

During the meticulous process of shooting the 'Popsicle' and 'Bony Lil's Creation' animations I've always had the urge to veer violently off course and create a new improvised narritive. I begin each scene with an envelope or two filled with small cutout arms and heads and props and bodies of the characters. As I'm replacing a new head onto a character so it can look to the right, for instance, I have an overwhelming impulse to have the head slowly drift off the body and swim around the page like a goldfish. The impulse toward improvisation surfaces even in the most strictly structured settings.

So this time I indulged. I made a scene whose purpose was to explore the surreal possibilities of all these little cutouts. It was a hoot. I started with a general setup of craziness and got the delight of watching the possibilities unfold as I went. What if the arms swinging the violin around batted the floating head with gnashing teeth? My, the trajectory seems to be going over near those disembodied hands! There's not much more thrilling than the improvised discovery of new possibilities.

So Close as to Taste

One action left to be drawn
Two more days of shooting
We shot the tarzan closeups last night using a rig of wire hanger, gaff tape and an unknowingly donated drumstick from my housemate. Each character posed in front of the camera as Mr. Director whizzed it around in a circle to delicately depict a background in motion. Photos forthcoming.

Next:
Edit Creation
Organize sound effects and music recording sessions
Revamp Distraction preview
Make Lil stickers and/or patches
Create T-shirt Art Commerce Project
Make videos of flipbooks
Make Lil epk
Edit snippets of movies for youtube and myspace film

Maintain balance between self-promotion and new content and when possible blend the two.

But, I get ahead of myself. Today: We shoot animation.

The Animation Process: Illustrated

Two Missions: Accomplished

Managed to finished the dress in time for the show. And it stayed in one piece all night. Here are some progress photos. Look Ma, no pattern.

Animation is chugging along. We rented real lights for the occasion. Check out the new process photos of the animation process here.

Two Projects

Two main projects currently on the table:

*Design and fabricate dress for Barnaby's opening.

*Finish drawing animation for Bony Lil's Creation.



The Dress: I'm draping the dress from nothing on my dressform and myself. The process has been a bit of the usual comedy of errors crash course in the physics of the human body vs. the physics of fabrics vs. the limitations of the body to pin things onto itself vs. the mechanics of my antique sewing machine.

Printed chiffon over satin.

I will be putting up the progress photos as soon I finish the roll and develop.



The Animation: We've got about three more sessions worth of shooting and I have about three more sessions worth of drawing to do. Drawing animation is always last picked for the team. Amazing the miniscule things that can distract from getting the work done. But, I can see the light at the end of the tunnel.

So I will continue drawing the movements and cutting the characters out and sorting them into envelopes for easy retrieval. More shooting is scheduled soon. We may even rent a real light kit for this one