Wednesday, November 19, 2008
Friday, October 10, 2008
Maccaroni
Pre-Pitch
Mr. Goldshoe's very standard and non-personal room on the 28th floor of an old people's nursing home on a very small island in the middle of a river, about 300m far from the mainland.
Mr. Goldshoe is 102 years old. His hands shake and his back is not so good but other than that he can't complain. The doctor says he's going to live to be 200.
Pitch
INT. GOLDSHOE'S ROOM – DAY
Mr. Goldshoe retires back into his room crowded by birthday balloons, streamers, confetti and noisemakers. He waves to the other partyguests he squeezes the door shut, kicking a balloon out of his way.
As he turns to his bedroom the smile runs from his face. He shuffles over to the desk while taking off his party hat. Placing it carefully on the desk he gazes over to his collection of photos. Nestled in the middle of the photos of his 70th, 80th and 90th birthday parties at the nursing home is a photo of MARGOT, his wife, when she was young. She is beautiful and smiles coyly at the camera.
Lightly, Mr. Goldshoe touches the edge off the frame.
Grabbing a box of maccaroni from the desk and a bottle of white glue he scurries on his hands and knees out the window.
EXT. NURSING HOME - 28th FLOOR LEDGE – DAY
MR. GOLDSHOE's POV
Mr. Goldshoe's hands flutter at an amazing speed as he glues pieces of maccaroni to a giant maccaroni structure. On his ring finger he wears a wedding band. On his pinky he wears the matching, female band.
ON SCENE
Mr. Goldshoe continues his backbreaking work glueing the pieces onto the structure. It is a ski-jump poised for a launch over the torrent river below.
INT. GOLDSHOE'S ROOM – DAY
Mr. Goldshoe inspects himself carefully in his mirror. He wears a navy suit and formal bow-tie. He plucks the flowers from the vase on his shelf and turns nervously towards the window. His movements are restricted by the plywood skiis he has attached to his feet.
EXT. NURSING HOME - 28th FLOOR LEDGE – DAY
At the top of the ski-jump Mr. Goldshoe is waiting with anticipation in position. His face is tense with nerves. He has a brief look around and checks his skiis. He's full of concentration. With one deep breath he lunges himself down the ramp.
His small form gathers speed with surprising ease. Mr. Goldshoes' teeth are clenched with fright and determination. The end of the jump approaces and he becomes airborne. His form is perfect.
Relieved his face changes from distress to delight. His eyes are fixed tight forwards but his gaze is glazed with anticipation. A tear is sweeped from his eye by the wind.
EXT. IN AIR – DAY
Mr. Goldshoe speeds through the clouds. As he begins his decent he checks that the flowers are pert and fluffed up to perfection and smooths his hair.
MR. GOLDSHOE'S POV:
The cemetary appears in a clearing of white fluff an approaches rapidly.
EXT. CEMETARY – DAY
Mr. Goldshoe is 60 years younger and shares a stone bench with Margot. He takes her hand and they sit in silence, both contented. Suddenly Mr. Goldshoe realises he hasn't given her the flowers and reaches down to grab them.
They're on the ground, behind the tombstone the couple are sitting on, still clutched in the hand of his dead & squished old man's body. He prys the corpse's hand open and snatches the flowers, presenting them to his wife. She blushes and recieves the flowers with glee.
-END-
The moral of this story is that true love never dies.
Finnian & Flynn
Pre-pitch
Small condominial block of houses in small suburban neighbourhood in mid-1970's Montreal, Canada. Mid to late afternoon.
Finnian & Flynn, twin boys, infants and later, toddler age. Finnian has blonde hair. Flynn has red hair. In all other ways they are identical except for slight alterations in colouring of their clothing.
Pitch
We open to a shot of a nursery with two identical blue cradles as our focal point. It is snowing outside the window. The boys names are written on the wall above the cradles. Finnian & Flynn. This should also be the title shot of the work. Our camera dollys in towards the cribs until we have a medium shot of the two babies.. They are both sucking upon their pacifiers. Flynn sucks his like a normal baby, but Finnian is sucking like he's just drank 12 cups of coffee. Flynn looks over at his brother nervously.
We fade to a shot where the two boys are on their playmat. Finnian no longer has the pacifier in his mouth. He's already grown out of it however Flynn has not. The twins are having their first attempts on learning how to crawl. Both boys are a bit wobbly at first but then Finnian is up on his hands and knees and speeds off out of the shot. Flynn is can only stop and watch. He collapses to the floor, unabe to crawl, desperate, left behind and alone.
Fade to the boys on the playmat again. Finnian is happily playing with a racecar, zooming it back and forth with gusto. Flynn's only toy is a wooden duck, he trys to speed it along the ground like a racecar, but one of the wheels is broken and it just wobbles along the carpeting. Clunkity clunkity clunk. Almost frozen with boredom, Flynn watches Finnian have all the fun, again. He sucks his pacifier.
Fade to the front door of the house opening and the boys, a bit older now, rubbing their eyes to the sunlight that hits them. In the courtyard are a brand new radio-flyer tricycle and a pink plastic pully-worm toy. Flynn sees the toys first, does a quick calculation in his head and looks over at Finnian who's grin has just begun to crack with the prospect of playing otside. Suddenly, Flynn shoves his brother off the step of the house into the bushes and rushes over to the tricycle... he hops on and begins to peddle around and around the flowerbed, his little grin peaking out from behind the pacifier. Finnian meanwhile is crying in the shrubbery. Shortly, Flynn realises that he's been cruel and pulls up alongside Finnian, dismounts and helps his brother up onto the bike. He sits himself down on the stairs, and feeling like he doesn't even deserve his favorite thing, his pacifier, for the way he behaved, soberly takes it out of his mouth and places it beside him on the step. He kicks the pull-worm and has an idea.
Cut to Finnian driving the tricycle at top speed with all the joy in the world. Zoom out to reveal the worm pully toy being dragged behind, and atop it, bouncing up and down like a rodeo rider, is Flynn with the same expressiong plastered all along his face.
-END-
The moral of the story is that there is no reward in acting upon envy of other people's talents. The real route to happiness is in developing your own.
Well Done
Pre-Pitch
Suburban backyard, late afternoon when the sun is turning everything blue and orange.
Jim is a big, heavy beer drinking-kind of guy. He overexaggerated in everything he does. He is selfish and arrogant. Sparky is Jim's dog. He's quite afraid of Jim's authoritative nature, but is not in control of his actions all of the time. Especially when he's hungry.
Pitch
We start with a bbq. Jim walks into frame followed by Sparky jumping and yapping and trying to grab the meat. Jim scolds the dog violently several times until Sparky cowers behind the BBQ sits down and behaves. Jim places the meats on a shelf beside the BBQ out of sparky's reach and smiles at him cruely.
He starts to squeeze out lighter fluid onto the coals. He struggles to get out every drop. He goes through multiple cans, dropping them onto the ground. Sparky notices the cans, and looks up at Jim with concern. Does he know how much he's using? He begins to yap again, trying to get Jims' attention. Jim ignores him, scolds him, then kicks him away. Sparky has a short attention span and his focus keeps switiching back and forth from the mounting danger to his desire for the meat sitting on the high shelf.
Jim goes for the matches now. Strikes one, but it doesn't light... tries another and another, gets frustrated, then he finally gets one. Sparky's attention turns back to the impending explosion of fire... he backs off a bit.
We get close ups of Jim's eyes, the flame, the flammable warning on the discarded bottles.
He drops the match onto the coals and it lights it perfectly, no explosion. He throws on the meat. Sparky sits down patiently now, relieved. His tail is wagging happily... maybe he'll be offered some scraps.
Suddenly an anvil falls from the sky and lands hard on the ground barely missing the dog. He jumps up in alarm. Jim and Sparky look at eachother confused and concerned. As Jim looks back at the anvil another one falls from the sky and crushes him.
Sparky is shocked and confused. He makes a motion towards his dead owner and quickly realises that without his owner, he won't be able to get the meat. He looks back up at it with longing. It's so very far away.
And then the bbq blows up. Plates, bbq tools, meat, veg, etc. get thrown up into the air.
-Titles-
The mess lands and as the dust settles we see that all the items from the BBQ have landed perfectly on the anvil in front of Sparky in such a manner that he now has a gourmet meal in front of him cooked to perfection complete with a vegetable side dish and cutlery. He eats.
-End-
The moral of this story is that good things come to those who wait and are in the right place at the right time.
Maccaroni
Pre-Pitch
Mr. Goldshoe's very standard and non-personal room on the 28th floor of an old people's nursing home on a very small island in the middle of a river, about 300m far from the mainland.
Mr. Goldshoe is 102 years old. His hands shake and his back is not so good but other than that he can't complain. The doctor says he's going to live to be 200.
Pitch
INT. GOLDSHOE'S ROOM – DAY
Mr. Goldshoe retires back into his room crowded by birthday balloons, streamers, confetti and noisemakers. He waves to the other partyguests he squeezes the door shut, kicking a balloon out of his way.
As he turns to his bedroom the smile runs from his face. He shuffles over to the desk while taking off his party hat. Placing it carefully on the desk he gazes over to his collection of photos. Nestled in the middle of the photos of his 70th, 80th and 90th birthday parties at the nursing home is a photo of MARGOT, his wife, when she was young. She is beautiful and smiles coyly at the camera.
Lightly, Mr. Goldshoe touches the edge off the frame.
Grabbing a box of maccaroni from the desk and a bottle of white glue he scurries on his hands and knees out the window.
EXT. NURSING HOME - 28th FLOOR LEDGE – DAY
MR. GOLDSHOE's POV
Mr. Goldshoe's hands flutter at an amazing speed as he glues pieces of maccaroni to a giant maccaroni structure. On his ring finger he wears a wedding band. On his pinky he wears the matching, female band.
ON SCENE
Mr. Goldshoe continues his backbreaking work glueing the pieces onto the structure. It is a ski-jump poised for a launch over the torrent river below.
INT. GOLDSHOE'S ROOM – DAY
Mr. Goldshoe inspects himself carefully in his mirror. He wears a navy suit and formal bow-tie. He plucks the flowers from the vase on his shelf and turns nervously towards the window. His movements are restricted by the plywood skiis he has attached to his feet.
EXT. NURSING HOME - 28th FLOOR LEDGE – DAY
At the top of the ski-jump Mr. Goldshoe is waiting with anticipation in position. His face is tense with nerves. He has a brief look around and checks his skiis. He's full of concentration. With one deep breath he lunges himself down the ramp.
His small form gathers speed with surprising ease. Mr. Goldshoes' teeth are clenched with fright and determination. The end of the jump approaces and he becomes airborne. His form is perfect.
Relieved his face changes from distress to delight. His eyes are fixed tight forwards but his gaze is glazed with anticipation. A tear is sweeped from his eye by the wind.
EXT. IN AIR – DAY
Mr. Goldshoe speeds through the clouds. As he begins his decent he checks that the flowers are pert and fluffed up to perfection and smooths his hair.
MR. GOLDSHOE'S POV:
The cemetary appears in a clearing of white fluff an approaches rapidly.
EXT. CEMETARY – DAY
Mr. Goldshoe is 60 years younger and shares a stone bench with Margot. He takes her hand and they sit in silence, both contented. Suddenly Mr. Goldshoe realises he hasn't given her the flowers and reaches down to grab them.
They're on the ground, behind the tombstone the couple are sitting on, still clutched in the hand of his dead & squished old man's body. He prys the corpse's hand open and snatches the flowers, presenting them to his wife. She blushes and recieves the flowers with glee.
-END-
The moral of this story is that true love never dies.
Progress
In the new place there's a mountain of stuff in the middle of the downstairs space. Everything we have. The move went well and in the truck from one place to the other we smiled knowing that even without all that stuff behind us banging around the cabin it wouldn't matter. Takes the pressure off. I dropped the bed down the stairs in the main hall here and broke the wall, but the bed seems to be ok.
We had an IKEA fiasco which ended in our defeat and a change of tactic. We were loading bits and pieces of the far too large wardrobe I planned onto a zillion of those pushy carts when we realised that we couldn't possibly navigate the cash area and all those people who stand far too close to you. We asked to have it delivered. We left the zillions of carts in the middle of those sky-scraping aisles and ran away.
Ale & Ele came to help with the move, and so did Max. Max had to head off afterwards, but we went with A&E to eat at a crazy dark trattoria, (or is it osteria?) around the corner when we were done. I had cornetti, which I've never had before and really liked, and cotoletta... which I should never have and hardly ever like. The owner/cook is an old bearder beer-swilling guy and even though it's just turned autumn there was a raging fire in the fire pit. The service was angry-family-biz style. The son wore a cape and squeezed glue and sprinkled packets of sugar into the fire.
The floor downstairs won't be arriving till the end of the month and therefore we're delaying any of the furniture we've bought. Most of it comes from our weekend hunts for 'antiques' from the turn of the last century. I believe it's called liberty style here. I'm mostly attracted to it's sturdy, durable, lasted 100 years and still going nature. I just really like the idea of wood.
The harmonica playing is going ok. I'm a little diappointed in myself for not practicing everyday and I think I'm using the move as an excuse. The truth is it's not taking up so much of my time and the not playing is down to my laziness and non-commital nature. It's one of my 'shoulds' at the moment. Yesterday I woke up early and then worked on my short stories for the short film I'm starting and then went back t bed at about 11. I stayed in bed till after 2:30 and had to rush to get ready for work. How can anyone sleep that long? Today I have a few more things to do for the final move, but before I'll practice for a half an hour.
The stories are coming along great. I'm going to upload them to the AM site and talk about progress there.
Friday, October 03, 2008
Links to Resources for Learning
http://www.yourdailyawesome.com/2007/03/02/ira-glass-on-storytelling/
ILLUSION OF LIFE (Disney Special 1981):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tFhqEupQviU
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zCMyRtLfhag&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iin1q7MjyXw&feature=related
Wednesday, October 01, 2008
Class 5.1
Ok... so let's start with IDEAS:
Everyone is unique. All ideas are valid. Following ideas will take you someplace, and hopefully to a place where a story can grow from. What if factors. There are no bad ideas.
My mentor this term is Jed Diffenderfer. He works on story at Dreamworks and did loads on Kung Fu Panda. In the Q&A today I was in the dark, no because I didn't understand, but because I had no lamp. Next week (lamp pending) will be my big reveal... bear head or lamp itself are 2 ideas that Jed came up with right away. I need to find a bear lamp.
Personal History Moment
Starting class 5 of Animation Mentor as well today. In fact, just finished my class with Jed Diffenderfer. It's the start of Story. Hoping to be able to document the progress on my little-used AM blog. By the way, it's before 7am. I've got the early morning class this term.
In the process of buying furniture for the house as well. So far we've got Fabri's desk and desk chair, a bookcase, the table, the other bookcase, a lamp and have ordered the couch. Everything so far fits into the early 1900s. It's only once every few days I worry about the place being too themed... but then I remember how very odd I actually am and I don't worry about it too much. I'm choosing things I love to look at whic have some history to them to add to my personal history, so I can't imagine that that could be too wrong. Friday evening I have to truck off to IKEA to pick up the things I don't really want to invest any heavy money into... my office space, the wardrobe and a matress.
Been trying to convince a carpenter or general fixit guy to build us storage under the stairs before we put the floor down, but it's an upwards climb. I don't know why, but the quotes keep coming back at scary prices and the handymen don't seem to have any creative solutions for the space at all. It makes no sense to me... you get some wood, you cut it to the right shape and size, you paint it white and stick it under the stairs. I know, seeing how I'm not a carpenter that I may be simplifying things a little (any job you can't do yourself is presumed 'easy' right?) but seriously, it's meant to be what they do right?? Anyways, the alternative is to wait and see what happens and maybe get a big storage chest instead for the space. In the end that might look nicer anyhow.
I'm looking forward to the first few days after the bixes are in and everything is crazy and messy and nothing's unpacked yet. I can see candles and a bottle of wine and an open box of pizza on the floor. Ok, I'm romanticizing the idea a bit, but hey, nothing wrong with that.
Thursday, July 24, 2008
I'm ahead on my animation stuff for this week, so i'm not doing anything to do with that. I think I might go read a book in bed. It's hot outside. There's no one to talk to anymore and I'm lonely. (Today the postman did ring though! He even had a raccomandata I had to sign for so I had to put clothes and shoes on and go downstairs and everything! I felt like a slug coming out from under a rock...the light was so bright)
In other news I saw the new batman movie last night and I have to say it wasn't my favorite, but I loved the contrast and similarities between the batman character (who had a terrible personality) and that of the joker (who was equally if not more terrible but definately more appealing). The scene in the interrogation room made me really think about my entire psyche and personality. I could have done without seeing the rest of the film though.
Tonight, dinner out someplace. Tomorrow Party. Saturday Party.
Not too shabby.
Tuesday, July 22, 2008
I pretend to study animation. I read my books. I read a novel. I don't really study. I don't really read my books. I don't really read a novel. I chat online with my virtual army. I exchange insults and information and try to make sense out of 8 hours. I look forward to days where there's more to do, like tooth extractions. I look forward to days when there's less to do. Like Wednsday. I'm not certain you could get more pathetic. I complain when there's too much to do and complain when there's not enough.... and why do I complain? Cause I have nothing better to do!! Hahahaha
It's not all bad. I exaggerate. Today Fabri & I stole a chair from the garbage in the yard of a school. I've got it partially disassembled and am sanding down all the varnish to well, revarnish it. Yes I know I didn't really think it through when I started the project, but at least I'm using a power tool. One day I'll buy a new cushion for the seat and get to use a staple gun as well. It's going to be a nice chair but my lungs are dustfilled and weepy so I'm calling it a day for today.
Monday, July 21, 2008
This is an Anti-Blog
I don't say anthing on this blog. It's not about me. There isn't a single piece of useful information on this site since its creation. It doesn't even have any meaning.
And if there's nothing worth saying?
Welcome to the anti-blog.
Thursday, July 17, 2008
Never did talk about it
Before I went to Xchanges for the stage I was thinking about documenting it in some way, like by updating to blog daily or something along those lines, but then when i started there just wasn't the motivation to do it. Th robot project was good and went smoothly but there wasn't too much else to say. I couldn't very well start writing about the people who work there. It'd be unprofessional... and anyhow, you never know how these things go. When animation mnetor's done in March I'll ahve a think about going back there and asking if they'll still have me.
India is another thing I never really talked about. I was thinking about when our car got a flat tire and the people we met there. Begging for cookies and shampoo- I remember the girl with the twisted eyes and skin problems. I remember the fish with no eyes. I should write all that stuff down before I forget. but I probably won't. the same way i spent more than 4 hours a day in the car with ramesh Raman as our driver and promised I'd mail him when we got home. The same way I always say I should keep a journal.
After a long time not using any web messenging software I'm back on MSN alot these days. It helps to numb the fact that I rarely leave my house. I feel more connected this way. I guess I'm the type of person they study in psychiatric wards to see what the affects of technology on society are. Case studies and the like.
I have a look now and then at other people's blogs, especially artisits and I see how comitted they are to their works. I see how the blog is often updated with new sketches and inspirations and the links to other blogs are of other artists with inspirations and sketches... And it gets me down a bit. Like when I listen to the Beatles and I think of how much I'm not going to do in my life. But then I remember I'm me, and I feel a little better.
So this post is about all the things I'm not going tobe and the things I'm not going to talk about.
Thursday, July 10, 2008
Pure Contour Drawing
Three more drawing to proceed with the info in the book. The first two are pure contour drawings where you study just the details and can't look down at the page. They are of an Orchid plant and the wrinkles of my left hand. The third is on a piece of transparent plastic with erasable marker (also of my left hand). Incidentally the plastic is the window that i stole from the bankomat back in 2005.
Wednesday, July 09, 2008
Upside Down Drawing
The excercise is to redraw a Picasso image (original shown here) which is upside down without turning the image and without turning one's own drawing. I repeated the excercise two times.
Tuesday, July 08, 2008
Drawing On the Right Side of the Brain Excersize 1
As one of my birthday presents Fabri picked me up a copy of Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain by Betty Edwards. I'm planning to follow the lessons in the book in an attempt to improve my skills as an illustrator and hopefully, animator as well.
The first excercises in the book are to be undertaken before reading ahead and learning the techniques that the author reccomends. The student is to do 3 drawings at their current level.1)Self Portrait
2)Portrait from memory (I picked Fabri)
3)Drawing of left hand (or right hand for lefties)
I haven't drawn anything in a concentrated state for a long while. I think that the self portrait and the hand drawing were the most rewarding right now, but I don't think I did too bad on the image of fabri either, even if it doesn't look like him. I'm pretty sure the book leads you to draw these same subjects when the course is done another time so we'll see how I progress.I'm also studying a bit of body language and acting from 2 other books. I tried an experiment at the post office today with the clerk, you know, smiling more and making more eye contact and I realised that those little things really do help.
Monday, July 07, 2008
Thursday, July 03, 2008
Mouse Loading Boxes
Wednesday, July 02, 2008
I'll Light the Fire
OUTDOORS & SITE
KITCHEN AREA
To be continued in the next post with bathroom, office, stairway and upstairs!
Monday, June 23, 2008
Mid-June
I've been throwing out all my clothes and I still have more to get rid of. I want to have a wardrobe like a uniform... everything goes together and there are hard fast rules.
Hate to complain but it was 30 degrees in my bedroom when I went to sleep last night at 11:30- how is that possible? Doesn't the sun have something to do with the temperature? I've taken to rolling around in a bathtub of baby powder before I go anywhere... is it worse to be sticky and sweaty or get heat stroke cause you're preventing your natural cooling systems from working?
The stage has been great and I'm still there for a few more weeks. I really like the group of guys the place has brought together and lunch-times are always alot of fun. I've learnt alot too and my robot project hasn't come out too too badly. I wasn't really keen on the modelling or rigging or animation or materials etc. as individual items, but all together I think it's looking prety decent. I have a few weeks to polish it up.I'm on a break from Animation Mentor which lasts only a week and then we get into facial animation. Man I'm excited, but also nervous for it. I feel like I struggled quite a bit with my last shot and I'm still a bit insecure. My mentor Dana Boadway was great at reassuring me though and I'm hoping my next mentor will be as awsome. I learnt LOADS. I tried my hand at drama-style acting and hope to be able to attempt a comedy shot next term. Maybe the shot with the 2 characters side by side. I don't know.
We've been to loads of weddings lately. 3 in June alone. I'm all wedding-ed out and exhausted from all the hanging out with strangers and travelling to far off places and all the primo,secondo,dessert-buffeting. Man. Hard work. All the brides were lovely though... really.
