Christopher Moonlight Productions

2018-03-24T16:00:00.003-07:00

My goal is to create high-quality productions for commercial, documentary, and narrative work, on any budget. I believe that the emphasis should always be on great storytelling and arresting visuals.

For years I have spent my time developing relationships with some of the top talents in the world of film, art, and comic books. These are professionals who I often have the pleasure of bringing into my projects to help me produce beautiful results.

My own specialties include writing, pre-production, special effects, directing, and post-production. I am proficient in Adobe Photoshop, Premier, and After Effects, which I tie into my skills as an artist in multiple visual mediums.

https://www.patreon.com/ChristopherMoonlight
https://www.youtube.com/user/moonlightartmagazine
https://www.twitch.tv/christophermoonlight
https://www.facebook.com/christophermoonlight/
https://www.instagram.com/christophermoonlight/

Film School Is In Session

2018-02-24T10:13:00.002-08:00

Well, it's been a busy few weeks for me as I work on the VFX for my first feature film The Quantum Terror. As promised I've been live streaming a lot of my work, which you can watch in the following videos.

First off, we have the beginnings of using green screen, UltraKey, and Adobe After Effects to place actor Matt Blackwell into a practical effects, miniature environment, involving a creature puppet.

That one is "to be continued" as I still have to record some video assets that will factor into that scene. However, I was able to take water assets that I took video of at a park and incorporate them into a miniature tunnel scene, to make it appear to be flooded.

I also used UltraKey and After effects to incorporate a "Stranger Things" like alien creature (which I designed and shot way before the premiere of the show) into a scene with actresses Kristin Cochell and Paula Solinger.

At this point, I was feeling rejuvenated. It's been a while since I've been able to play around with VFX in the ways I had grown accustomed to in the past, so I decided to revisit another project that (for reasons I won't' get into here) I had to leave unfinished, for now. It's called Girl In The Window and this next video is a run-through of the some of the work I created for the film. I plan to revisit it after The Quantum Terror is done.

However, my main focus will be The Quantum Terror until it's done. In these next two videos, I show how I use green screen shots where the set alone won't do and needs to be extended.

If you enjoy these tutorials and find them useful, please consider supporting me on Patreon by CLICKING HERE.

...or if you'd rather support me through PayPal you can do so by CLICKING HERE.

Thanks, everyone. We're going to have fun and accomplish some lifelong goals here. Now, let's get to work.

My Other social media...
https://www.facebook.com/christophermoonlight/
https://twitter.com/MoonlightArtMag
https://www.linkedin.com/in/christophercooksey/
https://www.instagram.com/christophermoonlight/

Learn Filmmaking With Christopher Moonlight LIVE on TWITCH

2018-02-04T23:47:00.004-08:00

It's been an interesting six months for me. On top of a move from Texas back to my home state of California, I've been finishing up my first feature film The Quantum Terror as well as working on pre-production for my next projects with Mesmer Films. The most exciting part of this is that I've decided to do something unprecedented. As you can see below I am now live streaming most of the post-production work for my film as well as some of my other filmmaking projects. This first video is an overview.

Oh, by the way, there will be mild spoilers. Why would I want to do this when traditionally film studios have always kept their productions under wraps until release? My friends, we live in a time where this method of production is nowhere near practical for the independent filmmaker and tradition is out the window. Now, anyone can be a filmmaker and the process is just as interesting as the finished product.

That's why I'm inviting you to come along with me as I finish up my film. Not just through these YouTube videos but LIVE on Twitch via this link: www.twitch.tv/christophermoonlight

Please, subscribe to my channel and let's make some films together. Of course, be sure to also like these video and subscribe to me on YouTube. www.youtube.com/user/moonlightartmagazine

You'll notice in these videos that there is a live chat box to the side. This is Christopher Moonlight film school and I'm inviting you to sit in, listen to the lectures, watch the demonstrations, and ask questions while I work.

Of course, I'll be posting these to my YouTube channel afterward, if you miss my live streams, but keep in mind that there is a benefit to being able to interact with me as I edit and create VFX for my films and other projects.

What will I be going over? Well, as of now we're doing film editing and visual effects for The Quantum Terror BUT I'm also going to be creating practical effects builds and even bringing you on set during future video shoots. You can keep up with me and learn on this blog.

If you enjoy these tutorials and find them useful, please consider supporting me on Patreon by CLICKING HERE.

...or if you'd rather support me through PayPal you can do so by CLICKING HERE.

Thanks, everyone. We're going to have fun and accomplish some lifelong goals here. Now, let's get to work.

My Other social media...
https://www.facebook.com/christophermoonlight/
https://twitter.com/MoonlightArtMag
https://www.linkedin.com/in/christophercooksey/
https://www.instagram.com/christophermoonlight/

My Preproduction Design & Storyboard Work

2017-05-19T17:29:00.000-07:00

Thank you for having a look at my portfolio blog post. I present my storyboard drawings, paintings, and digital design work for your consideration. Click images to enlarge.

My general mode of storyboarding is to work quickly in a very rough style so that I can get a number of pages out in a few hours. If key moments need to be more fleshed out, then I go back and add more detail. In the instance of the teen historical travel show, Passport To Explore, I had to work both fast and detailed. A short deadline dictated that the animator for this show would pull the images directly from the storyboards and rig them to move. I was instructed to leave some panels as just a sketchy background or draw separate elements that would be combined with other panels later.

The following storyboards are excerpts from my own movie The Quantum Terror. As I was drawing between shoots I had to work fast and sketchy, but still found that it was easy to convey effective framing and lighting suggestions in a short amount of time. Scenes separated by *

Some other work for this project included digital concept art and design sketches, which I feel translated very well, in the finished movie.

Another project where I employed both storyboards and some basic animation is film Girl In The Window. Meant to be a sexy, grindhouse style short, using all green screen and miniatures, I was pretty free to play around between the modern, Freudian, and retro, as shown in these to videos and additional images.

Girl In The Window_Henchman Shooting Test 1 from Christopher (Moonlight) Cooksey on Vimeo.

Over the years, I have created a variety of sequential storytelling art in the form of storyboards, comic books, and simple animations. I wish I could post it all here, but I'll leave you with a few more samples of the things I've had the most fun with. If you would like to inquire about my work you can contact me through Facebook or at ChristopherMoonlight (at) gmail (dot) com (@ & . omitted to block spammers) and I'll be happy to give you more details. Thank you.

My First Feature Film's Movie Trailer and...

2016-11-21T10:11:00.001-08:00

So, it suddenly occurred to me that I haven't been active on this blog for a long time, because I've been so busy directing my first feature film The Quantum Terror and posting about it at www.thequantumterror.blogspot.com. In case you haven't been following me over there, I'm proud to present to you here the first teaser trailer for that film.

We're still finishing up our second unit photography, which we hope to wrap next week. There will be a live broadcast from the set on the final day, on the movie's Facebook page, which will be announced very soon.

Here's all the social media, so you're sure not to miss it or any other announcements.

https://www.facebook.com/quantumterror
http://www.thequantumterror.blogspot.com
https://twitter.com/quantumterror
https://instagram.com/christophermoonlight/
& IMDB at http://www.imdb.com/title/tt5015218/?ref_=rvi_tt

I'll be back with much more to talk about, soon. Thanks for all who have followed and supported me in these crazy projects I come up with. I'm glad you're enjoying them.

Cheers,
Christopher Moonlight

James Cameron's Aliens & Screen Writing For Beginners

2016-05-06T09:20:00.001-07:00

The following is a kind of overly simplified explanation as to how your basic movie script story is broken down, that I originally wrote to someone, who asked my advice on the subject. There is of course a lot to add to this conversation, but if you've never written a script before and want to try, this may be a good jumping off point. I hope it helps. Here it is:

So, telling a good story is a many layered thing, and like learning to draw or play an instrument, you have to suck at it before you can get good. I don't even know if I'm that good, but I think I know enough to keep things entertaining.

The first thing to understand about most stories is that they're broken down into three acts. Sometimes more, sometimes less, but three is the standard and you should stick with that number until you understand why. The Quantum Terror is in three acts. Each act is like an episode with a cliffhanger, where all the ideas you have introduced at the beginning, come to a head at the end of the act.

I'll used Aliens as an example.

In act one we are reintroduced to Ripley and what her life and attitude is like after the first movie. We see how people interact with her when she tries to tell them what happened, and then we see how she is treated when they start to believe that she may be telling the truth.

They go to the planet and think they've got things under control.

They find Newt who foreshadows how bad things can get, but the marines think, "We've got this." Soon they're in the hive and most of them get wiped out. Ripley saves what is left of them in a huge climatic rescue and boom, the first act is done.

The second act opens with them realizing that the problem is far worse than they imagined and asking themselves "How are we going to handle this?" That's how every second act starts. The characters are forced to rethink their situation and come up with a new plan to deal with it.

The second act is all about the new approach to the problem, and it usually goes pretty well for a bit, even with new problems popping up along the way, until BAM!!!! Everything turns to crap in the second climax. Their ride back to the ship crashed! Lets call the other ship down remotely, because the planet is going to explode soon. The hardware to do that is trashed? Okay, Bishop will have to go out there and do it manually. Stay safe and bolted up in the compound. Wait a minute, Burk is trying to infect Ripley and Newt with a facehugger. Now, Aliens have found a way in. The ride is here, but now everyone is dead and the Aliens just grabbed Newt and took her back to their hive to make more alien babies with. End of second act.

Now everything has fallen apart and things are even worse. The planet is about to blow up. The one solder that could help is out of commission, and Ripley has to go into the belly of the beast to get the one thing she cares about back. Again, Ripley has to rethink everything to get through this. Things get worse. The tracking device on Newt gets dropped. They run into the Alien Queen.

The Alien Queen got on the ship once they escaped and tore Bishop in half.

Ripley has had enough and here comes the big climatic showdown over the daughter that Ripley lost, but has a chance to redeem that loss. Ripley wins. End of act three. End of movie.

Within these acts are highs and lows, like a roller costar taking you up and down. Stay high or low for too long and the story gets boring. But what is the story? All of the stuff I wrote above is just the stuff that happens. That's not story! Okay, so this is the most important thing I'll tell you. Here it is. The story is how each character reacts to the stuff happening, and how it changes them. We have the story of Ripley, who is broken but has to pull herself together to reconcile with her losses to the alien, so that Newt will learn to trust her and not suffer more. There's the story of Bishop, who is silently seeking Ripley's approval.

There's the story of Hudson, who is a punk ass and thinks he's invincible, but turns coward when faced with something tougher than he is. In the end, he even redeems himself when he saves Newt from the facehugger and then later goes down fighting, holding off the Aliens as the rest of his fellows escape. Burk has a story. Hicks has a story. Every last one of them has a story, and each one is reacting to what is happening and also reacting to how they're interacting which each other, as events unfold. Each one of these arcs has a beginning a middle and an end, no matter how things turn out for them. Each one either leans something and grows, or meets their end because they refused to.

The line, "You always were and asshole, Gorman." is really summing up what Vasques has been expressing all along. Watch how she interacts with him, up until that moment. She doesn't respect him. His decisions get her partner killed and make everything worse, confirming her attitude towards him. When she gets burned by acid and trapped by the aliens in an air duct, he redeems himself to her by going back to try to save her and making the choice to sacrifice himself and die with her, rather than leave her to face her fate alone. In that last moment she sees his bravery, and he is redeemed in her eyes. She forgives and respects him, shown by her clasping her hand over his, as he uncorks the grenade that will spare them becoming wombs for the next generation of monsters.

There's really a lot going on in that movie.

If you enjoyed this breakdown, please head on over to the blog for my movie The Quantum Terror, go to the Facebook and give us a "like" or find us on Twitter @quantumterror. I feel it's going to be a pretty good little indie film. Thanks.

How Lovecraftian Cosmic Terror Applies As A Metaphor For Modern Society

2015-12-26T10:45:00.000-08:00

“The most merciful thing in the world, I think, is the inability of the human mind to correlate all its contents... some day the piecing together of dissociated knowledge will open up such terrifying vistas of reality, and of our frightful position therein, that we shall either go mad from the revelation or flee from the light into the peace and safety of a new Dark Age.”
~ H.P. Lovecraft

It has been mentioned before that my film in progress, The Quantum Terror's cash of creatures are more than just your run of the mill beasts that maim people for kicks, but rather metaphors that speak of the burdens that everyone living in or modern society must bear. For many people who have a cursory knowledge of H.P. Lovecraft, the name evokes images of slimy, tentacled monsters devouring hapless victims, while leaving the survivors to cackle with mad laughter, which in turn dissolves into hysterical tears from the encounter. It's a fair enough generalization, but in this day and age of Cthulhu plush toys and role playing games, I fear that the true implications of an alien terror so vast, so complex, contradictory, and foreign that it causes people to go insane, has been lost on most, especially since we have already encountered such a being. No really, we have. It didn't come from a fallen meteorite, beneath ancient ice, or the briny depths, but from that alternate dimension that is the collective human consciousness.

Maybe, I better step back for a moment. You see, human consciousness is in itself its own dimension. Everything our five senses perceive is not reality, but rather a construct created by our brain, based on the sensory information that our nerve endings, eyes, nose, ear drums, and taste buds have delivered to it. We are living in an imaginary best guess, based on this information, that our mind has built for us, so we can move through three dimensions as efficiently as we can. In truth we can't even be sure that we're moving at all, or that space is three dimensional. (See René Descarte for more about that.) We're flying much more blindly than we believe, and metaphorically speaking (at least we hope it's a metaphor) we've stumbled upon an malevolent parasite that has latched onto our psyche. It's nothing overtly obvious that implanted itself into a single being, like a zombie virus or possessed little girl, but rather it inserted little pieces of itself into each and every one of us, so that it could exist among us all, slowly and methodically eating us whole from the inside out, by overwhelming our personal concept of reality in a poisonous way. Why?

“I think the point is to make us despair; to reject our own humanity, Damien: to see ourselves as ultimately bestial; as ultimately vile and putrescent; without dignity; ugly; unworthy.”
~William Peter Blatty, The Exorcist

Human beings greatest strength is that even in the most cut throat of times, when this Trojan horse in our collective has cased so much destruction, good people can be found who inspire hope and rally others to strive for improvement. Historically, these people have risen above the clamor and shown their fellows the way, not through deception and despair, not through coercion and censorship as so many are want to do these days, but by example, so that we can right the wrongs, or at least rebuild with the intention of doing better next time.

However, each time this entity returns stronger and more determined then the last, a Hydra like insidious worm akin to that which gets into the brains of cows, causing them to turn in circles until they drop dead or rabies infecting a pack of wild dogs so that they turn on each other. It finds what matters to us most and digs in, driving us apart until we are so consumed with the weight of it all, that we eventually give up and let ourselves fall to ruin.

Amazingly, I've found that it is this Equestira Girls: Rainbow Rocks song, entitled "You Didn't Know That You Fell" that illustrates this point quite perfectly with its lyrics, but instead of a Siren's song dividing us, it is the cacophony of the dilapidated media and politics, that is perpetuated minute by minute courtesy of social media. We've all been assimilated into it. Indeed, it can't exist without us and the people who profit from it are working hard to make sure we never leave.

What? You were expecting a giant naked lizard man with an octopus head? While that image is definitely more fun for horror movies, it is those same movies that have ensured that if such a being were to really manifest in our world, our brains will have already been prepared for the image and recognizing the enemy. We'll be ready to fight.

However, this being is far too clever to do something like that. Instead it has attacked us in a way most people never have thought possible, and therefore we would not be able to protect ourselves against, so readily. Rather than overwhelming us with sheer alien incomprehensibility, it overwhelmed us with the incomprehensibility of our own inner world, taking our desire to be moral creatures and hitting it dead on. The younger generation of our current populous has suffered the worst from this attack, because they do not come from a time before everyone carried a device with them that constantly inundates everyone with information and misinformation, 24 hours a day. However, having that frame of reference is not a sure fire inoculation. We were all taken off guard.

Those of us who grew up before the iPhone and Androids never imagined that there would be a worse perpetrator of this deluge than the TV, which we could easily walk away from to continue on with our daily lives. Now we're always plugged in, wherever we go, and so are the mechanisms of our culture. It gives us information on tap and at the touch of a little screen, grants us the capacity to learn things and see places without traveling, but it mixes that great privilege, which no one wants to give up, with superficial things and tells us that no person should be without them. At breakneck speeds it shows us threats and atrocities both real and manufactured for manipulation, and gives us such conflicting information, rewritten history, edited events, propaganda, people arguing, condescending to each other, accusing everyone of racism, holding grudges for things that happened before any of us were born, telling them they're evil for eating meat, not having solar panels, thinking differently then them. It tells them that the environment is being destroyed, terrorists are killing everyone and it's our fault, the economy is crashing, our government is being controlled by corporations, you're greedy for opposing new taxes, the color of your skin invalidates you (or if you're black and you agree with a white person, you're a coon.), your typos invalidate you, your bills are overdue, and on and on and on, and this is coming at you all the time, and the big message is if you're not thinking about it, caring about it, trying with all your might to do the right thing, fix all the planet's problems, and not offend anyone, then YOU are what's wrong with this world. Dare to present another point of view and you will be blocked, ganged up on, ostracized, and labeled a troll. It's passive aggressiveness with all the aggressiveness of World War III. Pass it on. Of course, feel free to absolve yourself when you do. Everyone else does. It's enough to drive anyone to madness in a way that puts any cosmic horror to shame.

And so Cthulhu has risen. Or maybe it's more like the Orwellian bullet to the head (read 1984 to get that reference) wherein here comes the self appointed master to tell you that all of this free will is really what's ailing you. "What you need is to put us in charge." they tell us, "We know better than you. Never mind that we're the ones that built the pyre and fanned the flames." and when we're all beaten and crazy from it all, and agree to their devil's proposition, Cthulhu will have consumed us completely.

However, unlike the writings of Lovecraft, there is still hope. When enough people learn to question what they're shown, to know when to tune things out, to seek knowledge through the world that the information highway does not show them, but rather go back to experiencing what our five senses show us, we will once again be able to take our lives back from this horror. First we'll have to learn not to fear the cuts and bruises that both our egos and physical bodies will have to endure, to be happy this way. We'll have to learn to live with different points of view and accept when others don't always agree with ours, and also accept that this might not mean that they're bad people. We'll have to be aware that there will always be others willing and wanting to hurt us and be prepared to defend ourselves against them, but we will do it with courage and integrity, rather than crying to some imagined savior, who is really just a salesman or aspiring slave master, minus the tell tale tentacles that would otherwise raise a red flag.

All of this will be in The Quantum Terror. Don't worry, it will be subtle. We know you don't go to the movies to be preached to, like in this article. I'll leave that to James Cameron when he releases the next Avatar movie.

As always, thank you!
-Christopher "Moonlight"
Don't forget to follow us and repost the stuff we post on...
https://www.facebook.com/quantumterror
https://twitter.com/quantumterror
https://instagram.com/christophermoonlight/

& IMDB at http://www.imdb.com/title/tt5015218/?ref_=rvi_tt

Why I Made The Protagonist Of The Quantum Terror A Lesbian

2015-09-12T09:11:00.000-07:00

I've had a lot of comments since I started this campaign to bring The Quantum Terror to life. Two of them stand out in my mind, and I feel are important for me to address.

The first one was from a Facebook commenter who said something like, "I was into the trailer until I saw the girls kissing." I don't think they were actively offended by it, but may have had some concerns that the movie was just going to be gratuitous in an exploitation kind of way. While I freely admit to wanting to make a movie that is as sexy as it is scary, it's also very important to me that there isn't anything in the film that doesn't need to be there. The Quantum Terror is a love story between two women that is interrupted by not only the horrors that come with alien creatures, but the perceptions of others on the outside looking in. These preconceived notions come from everywhere and at everyone who is trying to be true to themselves, their feelings, and sense of place in the world. After all, quantum physics is partly to do with the influence of observation. (...as explained in this video, if you want to know more on that.)

Indeed, whether we like it or not, our daily lives are greatly influenced by how others perceive and interact with us. Regardless of our skin color, religion, gender, sexual orientation, or age, each and every person is experiencing life from their own individual point of view, yet we still have to contend with how others perpetuate the stereotypes that come with our commonalities. Celebrities and media will over inflate them, encouraging others to embrace these stereotypes as culture or life style, when they are neither. They are simply pigeonholes meant to keep people thinking of themselves and others as part of the masses, rather than taking ownership of ones own identity. The result is often segregation through the illusion of pride or heritage. Heritage and traditions can help us learn about where we came from and where we're going, but unfortunately are also often used to draw lines between us and our fellows. Before you know it, people are using them to justify bullying through bigotry. These stereotypes influence those who would rather generalize than address each person they meet as a unique human being, who may have their own thoughts and feelings, their own hopes, problems, fears, or loves outside of what any group which has been automatically designated to them by a roll of the cosmic dice. We seem to live in a world where daring to step outside of that has become socially unacceptable on any side of these lines. I feel that could be damaging to anyone's psyche, especially of today's young people, who don't seem to have any frame of reference to ground themselves in.*

My intention in creating a lesbian protagonist was to take the stereotype and strip it from the character, so you would see the human being underneath, which we all have in common. In doing so, I felt that I could be free to take an objective look at these characters as I wrote them and free them from the box others might want to put them in, even if I am a heterosexual male. Was I successful? I asked our leading actress Kristen Cochell (IMDB) what she thought, and this is the reply she sent me.

"I fell in love with my character in The Quantum Terror, Sam, shortly after reading the script. Sam is unlike a lot of heroin/leading roles we see in the cinema currently, which is what attracted me so much to her. In this movie we have one of the first Lesbian heroines. A gay hero? It's unheard of, which is one of the reasons I wanted to play her. Another reason Sam's character spoke to me is because main female characters have always been undermined by covering their emotions on film. God forbid we show a main character in an emotional light, right? Don't get me wrong Sam is very strong, sort of like Sigourney Weaver in Aliens, but she's also very fragile at moments, which makes her human. Sam's character has been a turning point for my career. The internal struggle between fighting to find her sister, fighting back her feelings for Lucy, fighting aliens and quantum physics, it's been a truly challenging role that I could not be more grateful to tackle. The Quantum Terror is not just about making a lesbian love story, but raising and changing standards in the film industry."

Which brings me to...

The second comment I received was from another actress who auditioned for the lead. Her's was something to the effect of, "Even if you don't cast me, I just want to say thank you for creating a part like this in your film. It means so much to me and to other women, especially in Austin, that a filmmaker would chose to have a female lead like this one." I confess, I was much taken aback at being told this. I've always been a fan of science fiction and horror, and in my mind all the great films had a woman at the forefront. Sigourney Weaver's Ripley in Alien and Linda Hamilton's Sarah Conner in Terminator stand out the most, but movies like Hellraiser, Nightmare On Elm Street, Rosemary's Baby, and Halloween all centered around a well written heroine. It seemed only natural to me to do the same. That's not to say that the decision was entirely accidental. I had decided that I didn't want to center my theme around a person's race or spiritual beliefs, because not only could that become unintentionally polarizing, but I feared that not everyone would be able to automatically relate. On the other hand a homosexual person can come from any walk of life. It truly seemed to be the only way to go. I hate to say it, but in this day and age I realize that this is still going to be a hard sell. It would be an even harder one if the romance was between two men. I feel that two women may be a little easier for male moviegoers to handle.

I realize I still run the risk of garnering criticism and perhaps even malice from our potential audience, but it is my hope that people don't come at this movie thinking I'm going out of my way to make some sort of progressive statement. I'm really not. This movie is ultimately about tentacled horrors from another dimension whose very existence will bring people to the brink of metaphysical madness. All this other stuff about individuality, having the freedom to chose, and being true to yourself is just subtext to make the movie more engaging for everyone, including myself. When you see it, you can decide what to take away from it on your own.

Hey, by the way, we'd actually love to have you as part of the fun, so why not head on over to our Indiegogo page (click right here http://igg.me/at/quantumterror) watch the trailer, and pick up a pledge reward.

*Next up: How Lovecraftian cosmic horror and quantum physics apply as a metaphor for our media driven society!

2015-08-22T09:27:00.000-07:00

First, watch the trailer and then I'll tell you about what we've been up to.

Here's the short link to the Indiegogo: http://igg.me/at/quantumterror

Did you like it? We're pretty pleased with it. There are issues what we're working to improve right now, such as improving our sound, but over all I think you'd be hard pressed to find anything else of this quality on our budget. I'd say that I'd bet my reputation that we'll probably finish with a better all around film than most bigger budget indies, but the fact is that anytime a director/producer makes a movie, that's exactly what they are doing. Fortunately, I've got a great cast and crew who are bringing a level of quality to this film that would otherwise be out of my reach. However, we still need your help. If you've already pledged, please share our campaign. Now what we've made our goal, Indiegogo is letting us keep raising money, so we can make this movie be the best it can be.

The Story

Samantha Carroll's twin sister Silvia has gone missing, without a trace. The only clues that Sam has to go on are notebooks filled with strange quantum physics equations combined with scribblings about the occult, that have been left behind. Silvia's ex-boyfriend and fellow college classmate claims he has seen her going into the nearby drainage tunnels that run under the town he lives in, however he himself is a suspect in her disappearance.
Accompanied by Samantha's concerned ex-lover Lucy, who has brought a new boyfriend in tow, the now group of four go down into the tunnels where strange alien creatures and alterations of reality, will confront them with their deepest desires and darkest inner truths. Now, the question isn't just whether they will find Silvia or not, but if it's even possible for them to ever get out again.

How We're Making It Happen

If you haven't already seen, we've cast actress Kristin Cochell in the leading roll of Samantha Carroll. She, along with the supporting cast of Paula Marcenaro Solinger, Matt Blackwell, Jordan Michael Brinkman, Mike Gassaway, & Dimitrius Pulido were all part of an extensive casting process, in order to ensure that we had the best actors possible, who would engage the audience and truly bring the story to life.

The Script

As I say in the video, story and characters count. Executive producer James Hudnall is known for his work as co-creator of the Ultraverse for Malibu Comics as well as Harsh Realms for Chris Carter, and is a writing genius in my book. His revisions of the script are invaluable. We continue to talk on the phone about directors we love (David Lynch and Sergio Leone are names that kept coming up) and tweaks that should be made to the script as footage is shot. We're both very visual storytellers and we want to make sure that ours unfolds through mood, body language, the looks in people's eyes and actions, as much as through what is said.

Building Scary Worlds & Monsters

Let's talk about building underground tunnels and the creatures that inhabit them, on a micro budget. My passion for a long time has been working with a hybrid style of miniatures, trick photography, practical effects, puppets, and green screen composite work, both for the screen and design. I've helped bring to life the visions of some amazing creators, on projects like Passport To Explore, Live Forever: The Ray Bradbury Odyssey, and Harbinger Down, but I'm the director, so I had to bring in someone who I could trust to do even better at that stuff than the standards I hold myself to. That's why I made Jenna Green my head of special effects. You'll probably know her best for her time on SyFy Channel's Face Off (season 4) but she also wowed audiences with work on Army of Frankensteins.

We're not having a go at the FX alone, though. Studio 1881 actually has no internet presence, so you'll just have to take my word for it when I say that the main creature that is being sculpted there is beyond amazing. The fact that Oscar winning FX company studioADI is contributing animatronic tentacles to our film is just mind blowing. Having the support of people with that level of achievement (the Aliens franchise, Tremors, Starship Troopers, Harbinger Down) makes us believe we must be doing something right.

The Look & Sound

Cinematographer Anthony Gutierrez is one of our latest additions to the team. This has been an amazing development for us, because even though I had confidence in my own camera skills and artistic eye, there's nothing like having a specialist at the helm, that can look at everything that is going on in a production, and capture it in a way that transcends your average B-movie. Composer Derek Hunt is a relative newcomer to film scoring, but as you can tell from the trailer, he's come up with some haunting melodies that will put the fear, in atmosphere. (It works better when you say it out load.)

...and there's so much more we're doing right now, that we either can't talk about just yet, or would just make this post twice as long as it already is. (Shout out to David Paul, who is doing our titles & the band Frankenstein who have a track in the film.) I just want everyone to see that the stars are right. We've attracted more top notch talent than I could have ever dreamed. We've got a film with amazing visuals, themes like love, LGBT issues, freedom of choice, life, death, spirituality, science, and the passion to make it all happen. Come be a part of it.

Oh, and I almost forgot. Check the shout out we got on this weeks Fright Hype, on Crypt TV.

VICTOR FRANKENSTEIN TRAILER!! That and the best Mortal Kombot YouTube reimaging ever on this week's horror news show FRIGHT HYPE!
Posted by Crypt TV on Friday, August 21, 2015

The Quantum Terror IndieGoGo, The Practical People, and Beyond!!!

2015-02-23T11:32:00.001-08:00

So far 2015 has been one of the busiest and more exciting years of my life. As you can see from the above video, I'm in the middle of crowdfunding and producing an independent horror movie called The Quantum Terror. I've also become the host of a new podcast show on Leglesscorpse.com, dedicated to raising awareness of practical effects, which are the in-camera makeups, animatronics, and puppets that bring so much magic to cinema. I call it The Practical People, based on a documentary that I've been working on over the past few years, by the same title. I've also been doing a lot of writing around the internet for Legless Corpse, Movie Pilot, The Austin Film Meet, and of course, my own Moonlight Art Magazine.

The Quantum Terror is going really well. Unlike many crowdfunded films, we're not waiting until the end of our campaign to launch production. We're already drafting our script, building monsters, and casting. If you'd like to follow along with our progress, you can follow along on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Blogspot, and of course by getting our updates when you pledge to our campaign, which you can do by CLICKING HERE. Check out the newest WIP video, which shows our undressed tentacle puppets.

The Practical People had a really strong debut, when my co-host Jack Ritchie (www.darkestjack.com) and I interviewed special effects legend Shannon Shea. We talk about everything from Neill Blomkamp's Alien Movie, to Shannon's work on T2, Jurassic Park, Evil Dead II, Predator, teaching for Cinema Makeup School and his new book I'm Rubber, You're Glue by Shannon Shea. Next episode Matt Winston of the Stan Winston School of Character Arts. CLICK HERE to listen and enjoy.

My writing has been coming along, and I'm pleased to be featured in more and more places on the web. Click on MoviePilot.com and Leglesscorpse.us to see the articles I've written for them, which I'm very proud of, and also check out my first article for Austin Film Meet called 6 Tips For Creating An EPK For Your Film. That was a fun one to write, and I look forward to creating more content for them in the near future.

Is that all. NO! Oh my gosh, no. Within the next few days, I should have information on publicity stunts for The Quantum Terror, which if you're in Austin TX, you can come out and see. I'll also have info on a fundraising event for the film, at the beginning of next month, in Downtown Austin. I'll also be included in some of Out Of Step Books art anthologies, and have been asked to help put together an art book for someone else. I can't say anything more about that one yet. All in good time, and one step at a time. As anyone knows, you can't do all these things at once. In fact, I have a feeling that all of these things will see me strait through, to 2016. Stick with me. It's going to be a hell of a year. Thanks.

~Christopher Moonlight

The Quantum Terror: A Christopher Moonlight Production

2015-01-16T08:55:00.000-08:00

A twin sister lost. An underground maze. A nameless insanity from outside of time and space awaits.

It's no secret that I'm very passionate about what I do. Film making has always appealed to me, because it allows me to engage my creativity through writing, drawing, building, and working with other creative minds, as a team. In my quest to pursue projects on micro budgets I have been humbled, but my commitment to finishing them have only strengthened my creativity and problem solving abilities. There for I am happy to announce that my four projects, the all green screen sci-fi short Girl In The Window, my documentary The Practical People, short film My Little Zombie (which I will talk about more, in future posts) and my first feature length horror film as a producer, The Quantum Terror will all see completion of their productions in 2015.

What Is The Quantum Terror?

When I came to Austin, TX in 2012, I was fortunate enough to make some wonderful friends, including director Frank Papa III, special effects artist Jenna Green, and film composer Lauren Morris, and before long I convinced them that they should work with me to produce a work of indie horror, the likes of which no one has ever seen, or dreamed possible on such a micro budget. We tried to run a Kickstarter in the month of December, which was really the wrong time...

...but it was a great way to A) learn that Kickstarter isn't the right platform for us, no matter how near or far from Christmas we try to raise our funds, and B) gain a tremendous amount of enthusiastic and supportive followers who want to see a movie like this made. And why wouldn't they?! We love movies full of strange alien shapes, tentacles, and mind blowing scientific ideas of interdenominational beings so incomprehensible to the human mind, that one would go crazy, just from seeing one. (takes deep breath) It's easy to see that other people love them, too. We also love seeing awesome practical effects, like the ones in John Carpenter's The Thing or James Cameron's Aliens, so when we started doing test videos for our own effects, we and everyone else could see that it could be awesome.

By the way, those creepy sounds were provided by the before mentioned Lauren Morris, who's passion and deep understanding of her craft make it obvious that she's going to be a huge asset in making this movie as spine chilling as it can be.

Of course, these are just some of my own humble effects tests. As a producer, my job is to bring in people who know better than I, and I think I've scored a pretty amazing talent in makeup and creature effects artist Jenna Green, who is responsible for the more impressive effects on the film Army Of Frankensteins. You may also remember her as a contestant on season 4 or the SyFy monster makeup competition show Face Off. Here she is talking about one of the higher end rewards we came up with for our crowdfunding.

We're also courting some amazing actors. I won't mention all of them here, because their availability is going to depend on when we raise enough funds to shoot, but they include the likes of Mike Gassaway (Magic Mike XXL, Dallis, Bad Kids Go To Hell) and Paula Marcenaro Solinger (Blood Sombrero, Salem, Flashes) who was also kind enough to record this video about why she wants to be a part of our movie.

So, what's this film about?

Our story follows a young woman in her early 20's named Sam, who is struggling with all the expectations that she believes she needs to fulfill within the chaos of modern society, and the confusion she feels after having an unexpected romantic relationship with another woman. Things continue to break down, when her twin sister goes missing, and the search for her leads Sam and her former lover into a dark underground labyrinth where a malevolent entity from beyond time and space, dwells.

Wow, right? I could go on, but I've got to get back to work on producing this film. As you can see, we're really passionate about creating something meaningful and unique. We believe that there's plenty of room in life for diversity, and really can't understand why people continue to chase after the same horror movie tropes until they evolve into meta, and the meta burns out. Let's take our love of creatures, practical effects, great acting, and solid storytelling, and show that the spirit of independent film making can bring new and original material to the screen.

We're coming to IndieGoGo, very soon. Lets do this thing! Follow us on:

Facebook

Twitter

Google+

You Tube

Instagram

& Pinterest

Also go to our Quantum Terror Blog and sign up for email updates, so you can be the first to know what's happening next.

My New Documentary: When Hollywood Green-Lit Comic-Con

2014-09-30T11:00:00.001-07:00

Presented to you by Moonlight Art Magazine, this half hour documentary takes a look at the Hollywood film industry's impact on the world of comic books, through interviews taken by director Christopher Moonlight, at the 2012 San Diego Comic-Con International.

Interviews include:

RC & Dominic Aradio http://www.aradiobrothers.com/

Batton Lash http://www.exhibitapress.com

Billy Martinez http://www.nekopresscomics.com

Birds Of Play http://www.officialbirdsofplay.com/

& http://www.castlecorsetry.etsy.com/

Camilla d'Errico http://www.camilladerrico.com/

Dame Darcy http://www.damedarcy.com

David Mack http://www.davidmack.com

Paul Guinan http://bigredhair.com

Sal Abbinanti http://alexrossart.com

& http://www.salabbinanti.com

and Jane Wiedlin http://www.janewiedlin.com

Sound by Scorpion Sound Design http://www.laurenmorrismusic.com/

additional music by http://www.SoundJay.com

written, directed, and edited by Christopher Moonlight

http://www.christophermoonlightproductions.blogspot.com

Interview: Batton Lash of Exhibit A Press!

2014-02-13T22:40:00.003-08:00

This video is a little warm up, while I put together the mini documentary When Hollywood Green-Lit Comic Con which I'll be putting on You Tube for free, in the next few weeks.

Batton Lash is the artist, writer, and publisher of his comic book Supernatural Law, which he publishes through his own imprint www.exhibitapress.com, and a artist in residence at Art Lab in San Diego. He can be found every year at the San Diego Comic Con, as shown in this video I shot in 2012.

He also has written and done art for such comics as Archie, The Simpsons Comics, First Gentleman of the Apocalypse, and Gory Lori.

After my Comic Con/Hollywood documentary is out, I plan to finish my short film Girl In The Window, while simultaneously pursuing funding for my feature length documentary The Practical People. Then, come summer time, Moonlight Art Magazine #3 will arrive with the conclusion of my Lovecraftian comic book story, Negative.

2014: Year of the Films

2014-01-31T14:12:00.000-08:00

Well, there's the first month of 2014 gone, and I finally got Moonlight Art Magazine #2 out and available for free download. Click here so you can download it, too.

Wonderful. So, as soon as I finish fighting off this cold, I'll be back to work on my film projects, which I actually have a fair few of. After having to recover from the theft of one of my computers and some sound equipment, I am now ready to resume the task of completing my short documentary When Hollywood Green-Lit Comic Con, which is about the impact that major movie studios have had on the comic book industry and its conventions. It will be available on You Tube as soon as it's done. I actually shot most of my footage for it in 2012, so I'll be happy to wrap that up.

I'm also glad to be starting work in earnest on another feature length documentary about the artists who bring you many of movies "in camera" special effects, called The Practical People, so stay tuned for more on that, soon.

Last (not really) but not least, I must confess that I'm still very heavily entrenched in the post production work on my all green screen, sci-fi, short film, Girl In The Window. It keeps taking a back seat to paying work, and I'm pretty much handling all aspects of this phase of the film by my self, much in the same was Ray Harryhause did, using miniature models, puppets, stop motion, and photo matte paintings, to create an entire futuristic world. Below, is a concept design peace, that I recently did, to better help me grasp how I'm going to handle the robotic aspects of the story. Special thanks to my daughter, who modeled for the pic. We had fun. Click the image if you'd like to buy a print...

Keep checking back, for more news on these projects and more, in 2014. Please, feel free to contact me at this link, if you'd like to hire me to add some magic to your project, too.

Moonlight Art Magazine #2 (free download)

2014-01-27T16:28:00.001-08:00

Moonlight Art Magazine #2

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD

(it's free)

Read interviews with career artists Camilla d'Errico, Dame Darcy, Joshua Petker, and J.H. Williams III. It will also include the comic book story, Negative by Christopher Moonlight, an article about the "value" of art, and updates on CMP's indie productions, like My Little Zombie & Girl In The Window.

Contains depictions of artistic nudity. Reader discretion is advised.

Special thanks to Rich Goddard, who I forgot to thank in this issue. (sorry dude) I couldn't have done this without his help.

Moonlight Art Magazine #2 Preview!!!

2014-01-18T00:11:00.001-08:00

Ladies and gentlemen, I give you our first block of preview images from Moonlight Art Magazine #2, which should be available for FREE download, in the next week to week and a half. Click the images for the larger versions, and if you really love what we're doing, and want to help us continue to do it, please scroll down to the bottom of this post, to find out how.

First of all, I'm very excited to present the cover of Moonlight Art Magazine #2, titled Demise of Venus:

Next up, an image from the fully painted/photographed/sculpted comic book story Negative:

...and if you've always wanted to see how someone might work to push the boundaries of their comic book art, then you need to watch this video:

We also have the now legendary artist J.H. Williams III who has worked with the likes of Alan Moore and Neil Gaiman, pushed the boundaries of design in comics, and opened the door for lesbian relationships in comic book storytelling.

Graffiti artist turned gallery artists and Michelangelo enthusiast, Joshua Petker:

Artist, writer, musician, film maker, and feminine guru, Dame Darcy:

...and Manga and Gallery phenom Camilla d'Errico:

Moonlight Art Magazine #2 (Coming Soon)

2013-11-30T16:52:00.002-08:00

Below is a little peek at just what kind of work goes into creating Moonlight Art Magazine, and why each issue take so much time. This is a speed sculpt of a Cthulhu creature for the first installment of my comic book story, Negative, which will be featured in issue #2. Yes, it's a very typical Cthulhu design, but Cthulhu is just so Cthool! What? It's my magazine and it's gonna be free to download, so don't complain.

Download issue #1 for free by CLICKING HERE.

Also, coming to Moonlight Art Magazine #2 will be such artist as:

Dame Darcy

Joshua Petker

Camilla d'Errico

Coming in December!

Negative & Moonlight Art Magazine are copyright Christopher "Moonlight" Cooksey

Christopher Moonlight Resigns From Live Forever: The Ray Bradbury Odyssey

2013-11-20T08:55:00.001-08:00

I am sad to announce that due to creative differences, that I Christopher "Moonlight" Cooksey (artist, production designer, and visual effects artist) am parting ways in all of my creative capacities with Live Forever: The Ray Bradbury Odyssey, and will no longer be actively involved in the project. I would like to wish Michael O'Kelly and the rest of the producers on this project well, and hope that the next chapters in the completion of this documentary are as enjoyable and fruitful to them, as they are worthy of the name Ray Bradbury. I thank each and every person involved in this project for the opportunity and honor of being a part of it for so long. Ray Bradbury will always be one of my heroes, and it is my hope that his legacy shines as brightly as possible for as long as human beings draw breath in the universe. God bless you all, and may you live forever.

Poster art by Christopher Moonlight

Moonlight Art Magazine #1 (free download)

2013-07-03T10:24:00.002-07:00

Moonlight Art Magazine #1

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD

(it's free)

Read interviews with Eisner Award nominee David Mack, Eisner winner Eddie Campbell, Billy Martinez, Christy Lee Rogers, and Oscar winning special effects artists Alec Gillis and Tom Woodruff, Jr. Also, the first installment of the comic book story, The Temp, written by Frank Kane and illustrated by Christopher Moonlight and updates on the indie films, coming from Christopher Moonlight Productions, which include My Little Zombie, Girl In The Window, and a collaboration with Michael O'Kelly Productions on the authorized documentary, Live Forever: The Ray Bradbury Odyssey. Download it for free.

Special thanks to original MAM staff member Beth Ashby (www.fotojedi.com)

Contains depictions of artistic nudity. Reader discretion is advised.

CM Productions Presents: Moonlight Art Magazine #1

2013-06-26T12:26:00.000-07:00

For those of you who don't know, Christopher Moonlight Productions has a publication, dedicated to the arts. It's called Moonlight Art Magazine, and you can download it for free, when it comes out at the end of the month.
Here's the Moonlight Art Magazine interview lineup: Eisner Award nominee David Mack, Eisner winner Eddie Campbell, Billy Martinez, Christy Lee Rogers, and Oscar winners Alec Gillis and Tom Woodruff Jr. Also, the first installment of the comic book story, The Temp, written by Frank Kane and illustrated by Christopher Moonlight and updates on the indie films, coming from Christopher Moonlight Productions, involving zombies, sexy aliens, and an authorized Ray Bradbury documentary. Download it for free at the end of the month. Check out a few sample pages (in progress) now!

Page #2 from the David Mack interview:

Intro to the Billy Martinez interview:

Page #7 of The Temp, written by Frank Kane and illustrated by Christopher Moonlight:

Page #2 of the Christy Lee Rogers interview:

First page of the Christopher Moonlight Productions Indie Pages:

Christopher Moonlight Productions Helps Amalgamated Dynamics Inc. To Fund Harbinger Down

2013-05-30T21:55:00.000-07:00

Harbinger Down Kickstarter

Click Here To Pledge!

I am happy to announce that Christopher Moonlight Productions has decided to stand behind Amalgamated Dynamics Inc. (ADI) to help promote the Kickstarter for their movie, Harbinger Down. It will be directed by ADI's own Alec Gillis and produced by Tom Woodruff Jr. It will star the amazing Lance Henriksen.

This is a project of passion for everyone and that's why we've thrown our support behind it. The money will go towards creating the same caliber of practical effects that won Gills and Woodruff the Academy Award for Death Becomes Her and also got them nominated for and Oscar for Alien 3. They are asking for $350,000.00 which must be raise by June 7th, 2013. This may sound like a lot of money, but in a world where movies cost hundreds of millions of dollars to make, it's really nothing. I'll post the press release below, but I want to say that on a personal level, I really care about this project. It means a great deal to me that there are creators like Alec and Tom, who are not in this for the money but for the joy of realizing their art. They need it. We need it. Why? Because work like this is not a means to an end. It exists for its own sake. Like all art, it is meant to fill our lives and bring us together, like a tribe gathering around a fire to hear the elder tell tales in the dark, and not put money in the pockets of investors, who don't care what the final product is, as long as they get theirs. So, if you are the kind of person who believes that the meaning of life is to make it as full and happy for all, as you can, please do so by joining us in pledging to this project.

...and now, a small sample of the incredible amount of work that has already gone into this project:

...and my own contributions to the cause:

...and here's how we did it:

Academy Award-Winning Team Attempts to Resurrect Lost Art of Classic Horror Film Through Launching Kickstarter Campaign In the spirit of classic films such as Alien and The Thing, Alec Gillis and Tom Woodruff, Jr. aspire to bring “Harbinger Down” to the silver screen with the help of fan support for their independent project LOS ANGELES, CA – Academy Award-winning Visual Effects artists Alec Gillis and Tom Woodruff, Jr., co-founders of Studio ADI (Amalgamated Dynamics, Inc.) have launched a Kickstarter campaign to bring their science fiction/horror film celebrating animatronics and makeup FX, “Harbinger Down,” to the silver screen. Gillis and Woodruff hope fans are excited to help not only make a new horror classic, but also to uplift an art form. The filmmakers’ goal is to raise $350,000 from fan support via the Kickstarter campaign by June 7, 2013 to get the project off the ground.

Harbinger Down, set to star notable sci-fi and horror film actor Lance Henriksen, depicts a group of grad students have booked passage on the fishing trawler Harbinger to study the effects of global warming on a pod of Orcas in the Bering Sea. When the ship's crew dredges up a recently thawed piece of old Soviet space wreckage, things quickly become deadly. It seems that the Russians experimented with tardigrades, tiny resilient animals able to withstand the extremes of space radiation. The creatures survived, but not without mutation. Now the crew is exposed to aggressively mutating organisms. After being locked in ice for 3 decades, the creatures aren't about to give up the warmth of human companionship.

“Animatronics and Makeup FX have been utilized less frequently in recent films, but this is not because of audience disinterest,” announced Gillis, who will write and direct the film. “In the spirit of sci-fi/horror classics, Alien and The Thing, Harbinger Down is a tense, claustrophobic full-length creature film that will feature only practical Animatronics and Makeup Effects. Fans of the art of Animatronics and Makeup FX know this technique is currently overlooked by the big studios; I'm hoping the fans will help us remedy that by supporting this labor of love.”

“Our company, Amalgamated Dynamics, will create the kind of Oscar caliber Creature Effects for which we are known,” commented Woodruff, who will produce, along with Studio ADI’s Jennifer Tung. “Traditional techniques still have a place in modern genre films. We didn’t give up painting, when cameras were invented.”

Gillis and Woodruff have over 60 years of experience between them and have worked with many top filmmakers, including James Cameron, David Fincher, Paul Verhoeven, Ridley Scott, Neill Blomkamp, Robert Zemeckis, Joe Johnston, Nora Ephron and Mike Nichols just to name a few. The filmmakers are utilizing Kickstarter to ask supporters of “old-school” visual effects to give them the opportunity to show it.

Contributors to the Harbinger Down Kickstarter Campaign will receive unique, amazing, thrilling, one-of-a-kind incentives for supporting the project. More details about the project can be found on the Harbinger Down Kickstarter website: http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1117671683/harbinger-down-a-practical-creature-fx-film

About Studio ADI (Amalgamated Dynamics, Inc.) Amalgamated Dynamics, Inc. was founded by Academy Award winning creators of special characters and character effects artists Alec Gillis and Tom Woodruff, Jr. Calling upon a diverse range of talents and techniques, Studio ADI creates prosthetic make-ups, animatronic puppets, actor duplicates and replica animals. With over twenty years of professional experience, we bring “real” character effects to the set to interact with the actors, lighting and practical atmosphere. We pride ourselves on working with the industry’s leading Computer-generated imagery (CGI) companies to find the right balance of digital and practical effects. For more information and a resume of work on past productions, visit the Studio ADI website: http://www.studioadi.com/ or, the Studio ADI YouTube Channel: http://www.youtube.com/user/studioADI

All attached jpg photos © 20013 Studio ADI. Permissions granted only for usage in conjunction with “Harbinger Down.” EPK/VIDEO CLIPS/ PHOTOS/INTERVIEWS/STUDIO & SET VISITS available upon request.

Ray Bradbury's The Groon: Speed Sculpt

2013-05-17T07:26:00.000-07:00

Christopher Moonlight Making Of Ray Bradbury Groon from Christopher (Moonlight) Cooksey on Vimeo.

For Live Forever: The Ray Bradbury Odyssey (liveforeverthemovie.com/) I had to show Ray's childhood monster, The Groon, which he used to imagine seeing at the top of the stairs, late at night. The solution was to build a rod puppet, which was then shot against a green screen, and added to footage of a staircase, shot by Scott Smith (lighthousevideoservices.com) under the direction of Micheal O'Kelly. O'Kelly and smith were also responsible for videoing child actor Zachary Meade (imdb.com/name/nm5282501/) against a green screen for me to composite with the other footage for the final moment in the film.

Watch until the end for a special comment from Malcolm McDowell.

Music by Bartok, Roumanian Dance No. 1 musopen.org/

If you have trouble viewing this video CLICK HERE for the You Tube version.

The Official Live Forever: The Ray Bradbury Odyssey Website!

2013-04-09T10:07:00.001-07:00

IT'S HERE! The official website for Live Forever: The Ray Bradbury Odyssey.

CLICK HERE to Enter

Click Here for more info on this blog.

Opening Night at Live Forever: The Ray Bradbury Odyssey

2013-04-05T08:59:00.001-07:00

I was in Austin at the time of this opening, but it's nice to see how well received the film was. These are interviews with Michael O'Kelly, Malcolm McDowell, Joe Mantegna, and many more:

"That creature that they did on the stairs. They did a great job with the effects, I mean, for what this costs, I mean, it's a staggering piece of art. It's a living piece of art. It really is. I must say."
~Malcolm McDowell, talking about the puppet and visual effects I did for Live Forever.

Special thanks to Malcolm McDowell for acknowledging the visual effects I did, at the 10:35 mark of this video. You can see some of the VFX he was talking about here:

For more information, click HERE below or go to http://liveforeverthemovie.com/ (coming soon)

The Sandman: 25th Anniversary Painting

2013-03-26T09:15:00.001-07:00

Some of my earliest desires to take part in the world of comic books, were because of my time spent anticipating the next issues of The Sandman, written by Neil Gaiman, illustrated by (for that run) Jill Thompson, and with beautiful cover artwork by one of my very favorite artists, Dave McKean. I related to these comic books, not because of the magical beings inside their pages, but because of the misfits, whom from my point of view, were much like me. There I was, 16 years old, with Robert Smith/Edward Scissorhands hair (much like Dream, I was happy to see) reading stories where the "freaks" acted like real people, with thoughts, feelings, humor, and souls, that I knew I and my outcast friends had inside us, just like everyone else. It was very refreshing to my young mind. So, when the opportunity came along to submit artwork for this year's San Diego Comic Con 2013 souvenir book, for the 25th anniversary of the first Sandman comic, I felt it was only natural to do this piece. I owned it to that young reader who is the foundation for the man I am today.

...and I thought an animated GIF might be fun to throw in, too.