I M dot StrangE

The Powerless cycle

noreply@blogger.com (M dot Strange) — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 01:04:19 PST

Working on Heart String Marionette has been less of a technical/creative challenge and more of a psychological challenge for me... I used to think I was patient because I had done some stop motion animation... now that requires patience YES but you are still very active capturing frame after frame... you're constantly working... things are moving...

Now with the situation where HSM is now... wherein I finished all my major work on the film in February of last year and had to wait to receive chunks of music which I would then edit the film to and do the sound design/foley for it then wait for the next piece... so as far as HSM goes I spent %75 of 2011 waiting... instead of doing nothing I worked on other projects...

Now its 2012 and with HSM I'm still waiting... in 2011 I kept trying to press forward... pushing in hopes to finish it all soon... Being an uberector and all I'm used to being in control... but now HSM is out of my control... its in Endika's hands...

A strange thing happened once I said to myself "Well there's nothing I can do now as it's not up to me"... I didn't say this until I got back from my break about a week ago... once I said that to myself I felt powerless... it was new to me... to feel powerless on a creative project... I'm sure people feel it all the time on their projects... since I control everything on my projects I never felt it before... wow it SUCKS...

To feel powerless is not inspiring...when your not inspired and feel powerless you start to lose confidence… and when you dont have confidence you don't believe in yourself… when you don't believe in yourself you give up really easily… when you give up easily you never finish anything... and when you never finish anything you feel worthless and POWERLESS and the cycle continues... I can see that with this cycle its easy to fall into depression...

So how do you get yourself out of the cycle?

Well I said to myself... since HSM is out of my hands I'll continue work on a new big project! BUT as I learned jumping right into a big project when you feel powerless doesn't work so well as you'll just be like "Whatever I never even finished the other one?! So this one will never get done either?!" What a mental clusterfuck eh?!

So the way I'm going to find my way out of it is just to get back to the basics... don't even think about completing big projects right now... just draw some things...model some things... do some experiments in 3d with new techniques... write some story concepts/ideas... allow the flames of inspiration to spark up on their own... and when they do jump back into work and NEVER STOP AGAIN haha

Gotta stay sharp! I made a Badassery episode December 13th...took a month break... came back to find out that HSM was not done so I feel like a powerless failure haha... I'LL NEVER TAKE ANOTHER BREAK AGAIN! OR umm I'll make films WITH A BUDGET so we can pay people and GET SHIT DONE ASAP!

M dot's London presentation pt 2 (w/never seen before new film footage)

noreply@blogger.com (M dot Strange) — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 13:52:04 PST

Here's is part 2 of the video from the London Macvideo presentation. Big UP to Rick Young over there in London ^_^ and thanks to him.

There's 2 short clips in the presentation from HSM...never before seen footage! ^_^ The audio isn't final as that was some time ago... and the Tatsuya voice is a cheap temp version with a standin actor.

Sharing some of your workS

noreply@blogger.com (M dot Strange) — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 17:19:31 PST

A lot of creative people visit this blog... Here's links to a few of themS that I probably haven't posted before...

Ini is a young artist from Norway... she was the "2d production artist" for Heart String Marionette...check her stuff out here

Andrew is a young filmmaker from A_Merica who makes a bunch of wtF and often hellZA funny awkward videos like his Heart String Marionette video above ^_^ Andrew did a voice in Heart String Marionette and I did the music for his last short film. Check his youtube to see what the youth of today are doing GAWDDAMN KIDS (Old man voice with fist wave)

The homie who made this posted it in the comments of my last post and I thought it was tite so I's sharing it here... its his first feature and is currently in post production...nice work bruh!

I already knew this d00d Tyson was an awesome animator based on his past short films then I saw he is making this game?! d00d yer a GENIUS! Check out the Zombox blog for more

I don't know the d00ds who made the game but I'm always on AIM with the d00d who did the animation as he's a weirdo who also uses Cinema4d+Zbrush+After Effects... I'm looking forward to his upcoming feature film which should be pretty fucking crazy ^_^

I secretly cyber stalk all yall who email me and stuff... so I've been watching you Kial! This video made me lol harD ^_^

There's lots more peeps and stuff to post but I don't want all the embeds on this post to kill the scrolling... keep being awesome peoples!

M dot Strange update 1/22/12

noreply@blogger.com (M dot Strange) — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 17:19:39 PST

My Xmas/New Years break was 2 weeks longer than expected because of cancelled flight complications but now I'm back and.... well... as I wrote before I left ...I expected the music for Heart String Marionette to be done by the time I came back and it isn't...

I spent a lot of 2011 waiting for the music but I didn't just sit around doing nothing... I did 8 episodes of Badassery, did a Rabbit Junk video, wrote 2 books, finished the script and storyboards for my next film... so as I'm waiting in 2012 I won't just sit around...

As far as HSM being incomplete goes... it's really just a matter of money... No one who has worked on HSM has been paid a single cent... not me for my 4+ years of work and not Endika for his 3+ years of work on the project... To do my part of HSM I do it all myself so the only limit is me..... for Endika to complete his part he has to work with several musicians... professional musicians who get paid for their time... if you're not paying them then you have to wait until they have the time/desire to work for you for free... if you had the $$$ to pay them they'd do it tomorrow... but when you don't you have to wait...

So there's been several times when it was "all supposed to be finished" but reality and the lack of $$$ got in the way...

It KILLS me to wait... so if you're anxious to see HSM I'm like 1000x more so... but there's nothing for me to do besides wait... I already finished the HSM "M dot Strange Soundtrack" for the DVD... I could easily pop that in and say that its done BUT Endika is both my friend and co-collaborator on HSM... and I should be giving him an "Assistant Director" credit on the film because of his contributions to the narrative as the project has gone on... I can honestly say that his contributions to the film have made the film better and I'm not even talking about the music as that's another thang...P.S. the music that is done is amazing

We already missed 3 film festivals that we were invited or selected to premiere at... I already seem like some unprofessional rookie with all my "it will be done by" statements... the only thing that has been lost is respect in M dot Strange as a producer with no money ^_^ So I wait....

So again I apologize... I've done everything I can do to complete HSM asap... but its been out of my hands for about 10 months now... unless I scrap the original vision... I believe in that film and I only have a few friends and I'll believe in them until the end unless they give me reason not too.... as long as you're doing your best and not wasting my time jerking me around I won't say FUCK YOU AND PEACE OUT

Now that I got that out of the way I should tell you about the projects I'm working on by myself in 2012...

M dot Strange's DARKSIDED- A series of short animated horror films centered around monsters and demons

BADASSERY- new episodes including "Scientologist Robots on the Moon" , "FAP FACTORY" and "MINECRAFT w/HAPPY ENDING"

I'm also to go further into my next animated feature film which for the first time I'm making the title known OMG?! The title of my next film is "GOD LIVES UNDERWATER" (nothing to do with 90's band of same name)- it has to do with "god" and takes place underwater ^_^ I already finished the script and storyboard and now I will start modeling everything... so I will start animating it this year and NOTHING I repeat NOTHING will hold me back on this one ^_^

I serve my audience above all... so this waiting/lagging has really eaten away at me the past year for letting yall down : ( I hope yall will stick with me as I have lots planned for the coming year ^_^

While I was on my Xmas trip I filled up a little sketchbook with drawings... Here's a few of them...

I also storyboarded a couple short little random animated shorts on my trip imma make asaP as well...

So again I apologize for the delays... I'm doing my best but I still have a lot to learn...

If you can't wait and want to know more about Heart String Marionette... both about the film and the making of if check out the book here

So thanks again for sticking with me... even with all these delays I GUARANTEE Heart String Marionette WILL BLOW YOUR MIND and you will watch it over and over once you see it ^_^

It will be out this year... hopefully sooner rather than later... its been a long journey... I've been in cycles of excitement/depression while waiting on HSM... when I open the edit and look at it I'm excited then when I realize I can't put it out yet and have to wait I get depressed...

I wrote "God Lives Underwater" while excited so while it is darker than HSM its not all E_VILE.... BUT I wrote the outline for the film after that while depressed and its FUCKED... I'll crank out that script soon too...

So imma just keep working and complete the things I can do myself....

If you have any ideas/suggestions of stuff you'd like to see me make/do while waiting for HSM let me know in the comments!

M dot Strange: Live in London

noreply@blogger.com (M dot Strange) — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 17:20:22 PST

Here's the video from my presentation at MacVideo expo London 2011. Thanks to Rick Young for having me out there and for making this video.

Here is PART 2 with never before seen footage of Heart String Marionette!

(P.S. I got stuck in Europe because of a cancelled flight, will have HSM news when I get back next week)

BADASSERY EPISODE 8: DYNAMITE RAINBOWS

noreply@blogger.com (M dot Strange) — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 17:20:22 PST

Here's the newest episode of BADASSERY! This one was 115 shots and I did all the animation in 3 days... one day to comp/edit/sound fx... and one day to storyboard/prep/record voices... so 5 days work total...

I'm going on a trip for Xmas and New Years in a few days so this is my Xmas gift to yall! 10+ minutes of BADASSERY madness+ maybe a little disturbing Xmas thing thrown in as well ^_^

See yall next year! Thanks for sticking around with me for another year!

BestesT,

MdoTs

P.S. While I'm away Endika is finishing HSM ^_^

Work too fast wait for renders? 0_o

noreply@blogger.com (M dot Strange) — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 17:20:22 PST

So I animated 115 shots for the next episode of Badassery in 3 days... the plan when making Badassery is to make it as fast as possible while rendering on one PC as to not make PG&E richer as Badassery is a "for fun" project and well didn't even raise $1000 on Kickstarter 0_o So its not something imma dying to throw money at...

So yeh animate while awake then render while asleep... that's always the plan with this stuff BUT if you animate too many shots the one PC rendering can't keep up... so now I wait like 6 hours for the last 34 shots to render... they only take 3 seconds per frame to render but this episode of like 10 minutes so yeah...

I'm going to have to experiment with using Open GL renders for Badassery as that should get the render times down to like 1 second per frame...

Saying that... waiting kills me 0_0 I myself can't wait for HYPER FAST PC's so there's no waiting at all and you can just create at the speed of thought... my PC should be waiting on me not vice versa...

Well I keep waiting on it... then I'll do the super fast ridiculous sound fx work and upload it on youtube...

"Perfectionism" will DESTROY you

noreply@blogger.com (M dot Strange) — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 17:20:22 PST

I'm not a "perfectionist" when it comes to my art/creative work etc... I work hard to get to that %98 point then I put the thing out and move on to the next and that's worked for me so far to get shit done...

Now I do know some artistic/creative types who would fall into the whole "perfectionist" thing... and they have a really hard time FINISHING things... even STARTING things is difficult some times because they get the whole "I'm not ready to start yet?!" thing going... then if they do start here comes the whole "BUT am I ready to finish?!" thing...

Its REALLY frustrating to for me to watch this going on... as I know NOTHING is ever "PERFECT" and striving for perfection is striving for the IMPOSSIBLE... since its impossible you will NEVER FINISH... and if you will never finish then you will never complete anything... you will never make anything... so what does that make you? A halfway filmmaker? A halfway artist? A halfway musician?

I'm a sort of jump into the fire type... I do my absolute best on my work... but it gets to a certain point where I'm like ok I'm going to say this is done and put it out and see what happens! There's always risk involved... there's always chance... ALWAYS... there's NO WAY to make something a sure hit or success.. there's no way to make it "perfect" So why try?

If something is never "completed" then its always a work in progress.. so then it still has the POSSIBILITY* of being perfect... I think these people are AFRAID of having to admit that whatever they create is NOT perfect or that it won't live up to their expectations... and they are AFRAID of that...

Now that is a valid fear BUT the way I deal with that fear is say "well whatever I'll do better on the next thing I make" and then I move on and try to correct my errors...

I hope the perfectionists I know don't end up destroying themselves and their works.... and if you're one I really hope you don't either... Just get used to saying "It's not perfect but its MINE" that sense of ownership is enough for me to get over the fear and keep going! ^_^

What is your sword?

noreply@blogger.com (M dot Strange) — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 17:20:22 PST

Still from THE SWORD OF DOOM

What is the thing that you use to protect yourself from all the things that try to hurt you in this world?

What do you trust more than anything else?

What in this world has never let you down?

What makes you feel secure when everything else makes you feel insecure?

What do you turn to when all else fails to make you feel like you belong? Like you matter?

Whatever that thing is...IT IS YOUR PASSION... IT IS YOUR DRUG... IT IS YOUR GAWD.

If everyone abandons you and the world goes to shit... you will always have it... you will live to fight another day.

Thanks for helping me through another year yaLLs

noreply@blogger.com (M dot Strange) — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 17:20:22 PST

As another year comes to an end... I would like to thank you all for your continued support and patience with this guy in this room full of computers whose new film is taking FUCKING FOREVER to be released 0_o

You are the only people who support what I do... no film organizations... no arts organizations....no agency... no management... no studio... nothing and no one except you, my few friends and lil family.... all so I'd like to say thanks to you for sticking around from the bottom of my paper mache heart fer realS...

Now before the year is over what do you want me to make for you for Xmas? I WOULD LOVE to have it be HSM but I've done all the work I can on it my friends... it's in Endika's hands now... there's nothing more I can do...

So what do you want me to do before Xmas? Another episode of Badassery? Video tutorials? Draw people Xmas cards again? Some other kinda random animation er somethin? Let me know and I'll do my best to make it happen!

The shattered mirror

noreply@blogger.com (M dot Strange) — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 17:20:22 PST

I just finished the storyboards for my next animated feature after HSM...

It has like 1,200 shots... HSM had like 1,600...WATS had like 700

I know you haven't seen HSM yet so yer like YEH WHATEVER... but its like done we just have to figure out how/when to release it so we make enough moneyS to make another film... but I have to keep it moving... I can't get caught being static while HSM is being released and all that... I need to keep working... I need to keep making films however I can...

This next film will be in a world similar to HSM with dolls... and things made of wood... and yeh a more organic vibe....

NOW I'm really nuts because I just finished the outline for the film after the next ^_^ And I'm starting on that screenplay now and I will finish it in the next 2 weeks... Its a VERY DARK film...it will be like my cyber punk epic ^ ^

On a random note... you peeps that are into my stuff... ever had any "UFO" or "alien abduction" experiences? Or any recurring nightmares when you were a kid? I'm just curious....

Stuff I was listening to while making Heart String Marionette

noreply@blogger.com (M dot Strange) — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 17:20:22 PST

I was listening to a ton of Penderecki... his epic CRAZY stuff... also his Opera is awesome... if you can find the whole thing check it out... here's a snippet..

I was also listening to a ton of IN SLAUGHTER NATIVES... actually my very first "serious" short film I ever made used the ISN track ANGEL MEAT way back in like 1995 haha... A year or two I emailed the man from ISN Jouni and sent him a link to my short film FACE... it made me happy that the prince of darkness himself enjoyed it ^ ^

Watching the finished film now... its SUPER DARK AND MOODY... if Endika didn't get involved to bring in some other feelings besides PAIN, SUFFERING, ALIENATION, REGRET, TORMENT, SELF HATRED and DOOM this film probably would have been really depressing?! but luckily there's a little hope in it as well... JUST a little bit but it's there...

All the "happy ending" "everything is great in the end" films and the like rub me the wrong way... with so much pain and suffering in the world... with so many people being forced into the darkness... if I don't have that in my work then I can't resonate with those people... I can't try to show them the tiny beam of light in the darkness... the tiny speck of hope you can hold in your hand to help guide you through life without dying.... inside.

What does the world sound like?

noreply@blogger.com (M dot Strange) — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 17:20:22 PST

I just finished the last of the foley and sound fx work for the film... so no more puppeteering wooden mannequins... no more twisting flashlight tops for head turning sounds... and no more wrestling with bicycle tubes for monster sounds... no more WHOOSH and no more foot steps...

It was fun to do the sound stuff... and since I did it.... I know that the world of HSM will sound like how I envisioned it... DARK, SCARY, desolate and fantastical...

On the sound design/sound fx tip I think I'm more influenced by the sounds of games like Resident Evil 4 and Silent Hill 4 than I am by films or animation...

Resident Evil 4 has to be my favorite game of all time... the sound design for the monster cinematics is AWESOME... they sound so HUGE and TERRIFYING...so thats what I went for with my monsters ^_^

I probably overdid it with the sound fx as it sounds fuckinG CrazY 0_0...... when I'm doing that work I mute all the other audio... I mute the dialog and music... I build up with sound design so that its totally filled out and awesome on its own... then I turn the dialog and music back on and remove distracting elements from the sound design...

So yeh we're wrapping up the film in the next 3 weeks... I have no idea what we're going to do with it when its done though 0_0

Knowing me I'll be all whatever maynE and start production on my next animated feature... since HEYYYYY imma finish those storyboards tomorrow ^_^

I just love to work... I just LOVE the process of making animated films... drinkin coffee... sketching characters... getting to work... its all GOOD ^_^

Creating for the future

noreply@blogger.com (M dot Strange) — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 17:20:22 PST

I work hard to create the things that I do... and I know not many people like or "get" it NOW... So I've always been making things for the FUTURE... I know that yeah.... maybe 20 people see this thing I've created today but it will exist on the internet and whatever the internet becomes....and it will be here FOREVER... it is all eternal...

Want to be eternal yourself? Well then put your HEART and SOUL into your creations! If they are a reflection of YOU and what you stand for and believe in... if they are a reflection of YOU then you will be eternal...

So in one way or another my creations... or I myself in essence.... will always be here waiting to be discovered by someone new... waiting to say something to those who will listen...

A lot of people make attaining currency their ultimate goal in life... when you DIE your currency will simply be transferred to someone else... and it has no bearing on who "you" were... or what you did... it is meaningless in regard to the time you spent in this existence... by having amassed wealth or currency the thing that "defines" you makes you and your existence meaningless in the long term...

A great quote by Beethoven to some meaningless prince of his time...

"What you are, you are by accident of birth; what I am, I am by myself. There are and will be a thousand princes; there is only one Beethoven."

Beethoven is ETERNAL because of his music... and what of that prince? Who knows? Who cares?

Someone I was talking to tonight asked me this question...

Why do you do what you do? Why do you spend years of your life making these films?

After thinking about it for a moment... I've decided that I'm creating these things to be discovered by the people of the future... that may sound grandiose or crazy to some... but its the truth...

If I just went by who and how many people are into my stuff TODAY it would be pretty depressing haha... but alas I'm creating these works for people that haven't come into existence yet ^_^

So people of the future that read this... yes I made it all for you! ^_^ Because I know that you'll be here looking for me because I made this....

We all gotta start somewhere! Rewind to 2001

noreply@blogger.com (M dot Strange) — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 17:20:22 PST

I'm posting this because my homie Tommy B. asked for it...

I realize if you're just starting out with your stuff seeing my work now can be a bit intimidating... BUT I've had TEN YEARS to hone my craft... aren't you interested in seeing where I started? What I was doing when I first started...

This is the first sort of "animated" thing I ever like seriously tried to make... its not very animated and its badly done at that haha... I had done some lil stopmotion things here and there but this was the first thing I did with sort of computer animation... YES ITS TERRIBLE haha but we all gotta start somewhere ^_^

So hopefully if yer just starting out you'll see this know that we don't all start out at a high level... I started out pretty much copying the cinematics from the NES Ninja Gaidens while using random 3d models of some Blue Anime girl... daleks... a skeleton and some other stuff... I made this with Poser 4 and After Effects with all the models downloaded from the free section of renderosity or stock Poser models themselves... So this is what I was doing in 2001...

Episode 9 is on the We Are the Strange DVD... this lil series led me to creating WE ARE THE STRANGE.... if ummm you can't see all the similarities and even the same characters ^_^

So yep we all gotta start somewhere and make a bunch of crap before we can do awesome work...so start out today telling your stories any way you can! AND if you keep working hard imagine where you will be in 5 years! In ten years!!! If you stick to it I'm sure you'll be doing awesome stuff so stick to it!!!!

Some Samurai films that inspired Heart String Marionette

noreply@blogger.com (M dot Strange) — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 17:20:22 PST

Here is a list of some common and not so common Samurai films that inspired my new film Heart String Marionette

SWORD OF DOOM- When I saw this for the first time I instantly loved it and watched it over and over and also fell in love with the lead actor Tatsuya Nakadai and the director Kihachi Okamoto... to me it was a great hero story haha seeing that I love anti-heroes... Its so dark and brooding its awesome! Also the ending has to be one the best endings ever... this film is easy to find.... this film is based on a popular story and several other films were made that continue where this one left off... if you want to see what happens I recommend the SATANS SWORD TRILOGY starring Raizo Ichikawa... the end of the last one is particularly awesome ^ ^

The SLEEPY EYES OF DEATH series or NEMURI KYOSHIRO- There's twelve of these and they vary in quality but if yer hardcore you'll want to see them all... They all star the AWESOME Raizo Ichikawa who next to Tatsuya Nakadai and the underrated Isao Natsuyagi are my favorite actors from this film period... the best ones we're directed by Kenji Misumi... you'll be mesmerized by the FULL MOON CUT too! ^_^ I had to buy all these on Ebay so they are a little harder to find...

SAMURAI WOLF I and II: These are two of my absolute favorites and these films are totally underrated... Chambara film master Hideo Gosha directs both about a wandering ronin who tries to act like a bad guy but really has a good heart... they star Isao Natsuyagi who is GREAT as a lead and I was surprised to find these were the only films of the kind that he starred in... the score is also really unique and awesome.

HARAKIRI- This has to be one of the greatest films ever made! Directed by Masaki Kobayashi from the more well known KWAIDAN and starring Tatsuya Nakadai in one of his best roles ever! Its a very quiet, slow paced film but its a very powerful build to a great and tragic end.

HUNTER IN THE DARK- My jaw dropped when I saw this as the cinematography, the direction... everything is amazing! Again, one of the darker and more tragic films... The opening scene with the nude woman and the man preparing to do shady stuff in the shadows is a great visual metaphor to frame the film...

GOYOKIN- Another amazing dark and tragic film... anime fans will notice several scenes that must have inspired Ninja Scroll creator Yoshiaki Kawajiri... On a personal note the character Oriha in this film inspired the character Siouxsie Silen in my new film Heart String Marionette... again the acting, direction, camerawork and editing are top notch!

DESTINYS SON OR KIRU- Guess what another dark and tragic Samurai film! This one stars Raizo as he wields a cursed sword style that I have the main character in my new film use in one scene... the end of this one is very tragic

INN OF EVIL- This one stars Tatsuya Nakadai and has lots of powerful quiet moments like when the girl who works in the bar is watching Tatsuya's character trying to care for a baby bird... when she's peering through the grass at him I think its one of the most beautiful moments in film

MUSHUKO MONO or HOMELESS DRIFTER- It stars Raizo and is directed by Misumi... awesome build up and ending on this one... well everything is great about it!

Also check out!

KILL! NAKAYAMA SHICHIRI SWORD DEVIL MIKOGAMI TRILOGY THREE OUTLAW SAMURAI SAMURAI REBELLION

Pretty much anything directed by GOSHA, OKAMATO, KOBAYASHI or MISUMI or starring TATSUYA NAKADAI or RAIZO ICHIKAWA

You'll probably notice that I didn't list anything by KUROSAWA... well because everyone already knows about those and I tend to like the darker, moodier films... so yeh if you haven't seen some of these go check em out!

HSM Limited edition 11_11_11 prints now available!

noreply@blogger.com (M dot Strange) — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 01:18:11 PST

So for the hardcore M dot Strange peeps out there... I offer you the first piece of Heart String Marionette memorabilia history ^_^

It's a 12 x 20 print and only 20 were made! They are autographed, dated and numbered by me like this...

Here's what they look like in real life... that's my homie Jesse who got print #1 OMG?! ^_^

There's only 19 available as there will never be another first edition 11_11_11 print like this made. I will sell them sequentially so first person to order gets #2 and the last will get #20.

I'm posting this on my blog first as you peeps are teh hardcore ^_^

They are $50usd + $5usd for shipping and I'll ship them anywhere. You can buy below through paypal.

If you want to pay by check or some other way please email me at Mdotstrange@gmail

To those of you that want this print but this version is too expensive I will be offering a mass printed version in the coming months for $25usd but it won't be limited edition or signed.

OR if yer down with the dot matrix look you can download and print this rasterbated version now ^_^

BestesT,

M doTs

YOU WILL DIE... INSIDE.

noreply@blogger.com (M dot Strange) — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 01:18:11 PST

So the end of Heart String Marionette is SO intense visually and musically as I was watching it I was picturing people vomiting and/or running out of the theater screaming and crying... of course the sicK fuX amongst you will enjoy it ^ ^

I'm not typing this to like pump up the film or anything as I was pretty shocked myself... I was like THIS IS FUCKING CRAZY?! The end of the film takes place in "hell" and it feels like going to "hell" as its SO DARK AND HEAVY ....

It's like no joke... its not like "this is a movie lets scare people a little when we go to "hell"... no lets literally take them to hell! It certainly isn't for everyone as its so emotionally and psychologically intense...

I know imma sound crazy but I will dare to say that HSM is a spiritual experience!

Think about how most major religions gained theY power.... through art and music... without the art and music what have you? Some weird d00d in a robe talking about shit you can't really relate too? Its the art like THIS that makes people feel some type of reverence as if the mythological people and events have some weight...

Where would catholicism be without art like this and classical music? In my opinion religion gains its power from art and music...without it, its NOTHING but random gibberish spewed by creepy old dudes in weird clothing....

So is HSM art and music for some type of religion?! Well no... BUT it does have its own mythology and there will be a fairy tale book based on the film that will come out in 2012... So our "bible" has a film and soundtrack that comes along with it haha.... Joseph Campbell talked a lot about how artists need to create NEW mythology for their generation as we're still caught up in OLD mythology we can no longer relate too... I'm just trying to create stuff that I can relate too... as there's nothing much out there I can relate too...

Can you relate to dying inside?

Drawing from characteR

noreply@blogger.com (M dot Strange) — Wed, 09 Nov 2011 06:35:55 PST

Way back when... when I first started playing with this whole animation thing I used to design characters from the outside in... I was so caught up into what they looked like as if that was going to dictate that they were like internally... NOW how many characters have you seen that look all fresH and shinY but are just plain and boring as fawK when they speak or act?

So yeh a characters look IS important but nowadays I do it the other way around... When I'm writing I try to figure out where the character is emotionally and mentally and I let that guide theY actions and eventually theY look... I don't give much thought into what they look like until all the pre-production work is done...

We all LOOK a certain way and we all have a certain ENERGY about us... if the only thing that makes us interesting is how we look... well then we're not a very interesting character ^_^ We might do well in still frames but animate us and make us talk and its LamevILLE...

So now before I start designing any character visuals I make sure that I know WHO and WHAT they are and how they FEEL before I start trying to give them those things through they visual design...

Maybe that's what they teach you in like character design school er some shit? I never went to school for film, art or animation so I wouldn't know 0_0

In real life I only have a few friends... why? Mainly because I like characters.... and real characters are hard to find... in real life and in art.

So the world needs YOU to forge some real interesting unique characters!

The WEIRD guy who rides this bike is a character... he's usually either adding new tape and cardboard to his bike or combing his non existant hair for extended periods of time 0_0

Gotta find the LOVE in creatinG

noreply@blogger.com (M dot Strange) — Wed, 09 Nov 2011 06:35:55 PST

To be an Uberector you gotta love...

EVERYTHING about the animated filmmaking process...

You have to LOVE coming up with ideas... outlining, writing, storyboarding, doing concept art...making animatics...modeling...texturing..rigging...animating...lighting...rendering... compositing...editing... You've to LOVE it all or you won't make it...

I myself LOVE every part of the process...well maybe not the whole marketing and distribution part 0_o BUT when it comes to actually MAKING it and not SELLING it.... I love it... I could do it all day every day...actually I do it all day every day ^ ^

When I'm animating and the shot is going good I get up and dance... no joke! It makes me feel so happy and I'm usually listening to somethin good like UBER GRIMY dubstep these days ^ ^ So I do a lot of dancing while animating... I know its just me in a room sitting in front of a computer alone BUT it brings much joy!

Ya see there was NOTHING else in life that I found that gave me this kind of joy and fulfillment... being a simple "director" or "animator" didn't do it for me... NOTHING ELSE IN LIFE DID IT for me...I had to invent the whole UBERECTOR thing to find my true love in life...

So if you can't find THE LOVE in the role's that the status quo has pre-defined for you MAYBE YOU need to make up a new role for yourself to fill?

A thought about friends and relationships... those people may come and go but YOUR ART... YOUR TRUE LOVE WILL ALWAYS BE THERE FOR YOU as long as YOU never betray it.

Making movies FASTER

noreply@blogger.com (M dot Strange) — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 01:18:11 PST

Now as we all know making this new film has taken WAAAAAY too long to complete... as We Are The Strange premiered in January of 2007 0_o

Why has it taken so long? The short is answer is like because... it took a long time ^ ^ The long answer is... because I didn't get to work on it all the time in those five years...

In 2007 and 2008 I was still flying all over the world to show the film or speak at film related events... they were places I'd never been before so I took advantage of the free flights/hotels and travelled around after the events... so I was happy that I got to see some places/things... but now I've seen them haha so expect more work and less travel from me this time around...

So for 2007 and 2008 I was still caught up in a bunch of stuff related to WATS... mostly travel related... I took my script/storyboard/laptop with me to try and do work on the road but that wasn't very productive... I didn't start serious work on HSM until 2009 really... as that's when all the pre-production for HSM was done...

Sooooo since I could never stand to take sooooo long in between films again.... HSM will be completed within a month from now GUARANTEED... and I will be finished with the storyboards for the next film next week ^ ^ then I will get right to the animatic and finish that before years end...

I know some of you are all yeah yeah blah blah M dot where's this movie?! BUT trust me its right HERE ^_^

As we finish the film.... it takes shape as a little bubble that contains the past 4 years of our lives..... all our energy and resources...and all our hopes and dreams... we've given up everything for HEART STRING MARIONETTE....

From film----> Musical?

noreply@blogger.com (M dot Strange) — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 01:18:11 PST

So as we're making our final push to complete the film its been interesting... as we watch it over and over we see the confusing parts... we see the holes... so I re-edit and fill the holes... I animated about a minute of new stuff we added to the beginning to make some emotional connections stronger in the film...

We've also added a lot of songs in the film ^_^ I won't say its a straight up musical because its not but it does have about 6-8 songs in the film sung by the characters BUT NOT like lip sync singing... more like music videos where the imagery supports the lyrics... its been really interesting and fun...

Endika and I have been talking about doing a straight musical in the future... so HSM is sort of a film/musical hybrid...

So 6 more weeks and this thing is done ^ ^

New stuff from my homie KOOL SKULL

noreply@blogger.com (M dot Strange) — Wed, 09 Nov 2011 06:31:01 PST

An interesting book for marionette enthusiasts and weirdos

noreply@blogger.com (M dot Strange) — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 01:18:11 PST

Massive chanGES

noreply@blogger.com (M dot Strange) — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 01:18:11 PST

As we are less than a month away from finishing HSM Endika and I have taken to the task of sitting down and watching a new cut of the film so far every night... I make dinner... bring it over to the studio then we watch the film projected on the wall while eating dinner... then we discuss our issues with it and I go make editorial changes that we view the following day...

Right now we're making some pretty major changes to the beginning of the film... there was too much dialogue/chattiness in the first 20 minutes... too many characters talking about things that don't necessarily push the story forward and made the energy go into a holding pattern SO its all been CUT!

So I cut that out and I'm animating some new sequences that show some backstory of the main characters that will go in its place...

So we're going to watch it every night for the next several weeks so that when you see it... it will be the best film that we can make... AND you'd be surprised that some glaring narrative/flow errors can make it through pretty far into the process as you're so caught up with just animating and completing shots... now is the time to go "WTF this SUCKS?!" and change things or not because you don't want to have these revelations while watching it with an audience 0_0

So at the start HSM had too much dialogue so we're cutting that back to bring the mood of the film we initially wanted... and we're really trying to focus on the important driving narrative not the random "this is clever funny stuff" scenes...