Week 13: 4713 Frames Later...

It is done. Well, at least a done as it can be right now. My final batch of corrections have been completed, the sound has been tweaked, all the scenes have been exported as .tif sequences, and the whole thing put back together in a final Adobe Premiere file for final export. What I'm doing right now is wrapping up loose ends. I'm posting this "final" version up to youtube on a private page and I'm going to invite a number of people to review the piece. Based on what they say I may or may not do some more last minute tweaking. You can take a look at it here:  I Hate Zombies - Final Cut 001

But, for all intent and purposes, it is done. Which is a really weird feeling. The end of a project - especially a large project like this one - always feels anti-climatic to me. When I finished my first film, I said that, "I was overcome with the roar of silence." Like I say, it's a weird feeling. But that's it. Nothing left to do now but turn it over to the critics and see what they say.


I'd say "stay tuned" at this point, but I don't think there is anything else left to say, except possibly, enjoy the film at the premiere! So long, and thanks for all the zombies.

Week 12: DONE!!! ...well, mostly...

I am incredibly happy to report that the primary animation for my short film, "I Hate Zombies" is complete. I'm pausing for a minute to re-read that last line. Holy crap! Seriously, there were points where I never thought I would get here. It's done. It's finished. The final version looks...well...maybe not so final.

I need to start tweaking.

 Even though the film is "done," it's not done. Not by a long shot. There are a lot of niggling little things that I need to go through and correct/fix/modify/what-have-you. This will take time - but - in this case I have time. One more week to be exact. So tonight I will go through the film with a fine toothed comb and take copious notes, then I'll start running through each After Effects scene and fix what I perceive as being wrong. Then, and only then, will it be done. Of course, it won't be done then either because I'll still have to export all the scenes as .tif sequences, import them back in to Premiere, and export them as a .mov file and other types of files necessary to create a DVD. Which means I'll also have to do artwork for a DVD, case, and booklet. Then I'll have to create a DVD menu and burn the whole thing to disc.

Wow...I still have my work cut out for me. Stay tuned.

Week 11: One

One. Just one. There can be only one. One is the lonliest number. Once singular sensation. One death is a tragedy; one million is a statistic. One small step for man, one giant leap for mankind. One good turn deserves another. We are all one. Just one. One.

If you haven't figured out by the rambling introduction to this blog entry, I am having a fixation with the number one right now. With good reason too: I have one - just one - more scene to animate for my film. "I Hate Zombies" is almost finished. You cannot even begin to image how I feel right now. I was so assured that this would be an abysmal failure at one point that I almost didn't continue. Now, there is merely a week's worth of work to do to complete the final rough cut of the film. Un-freaking-believable!!!

I could dance right now, I'm so happy!

Right. No time to rest on my laurals. I have to get right back to work because even though this will be done in a week, there is still a lot of tweaking I want to do. I want this to be a representation of my very best work. I want this to be something I can be proud of. I want this to be something that might just win at a film festival. I want this...to get me a job...

Stay tuned.

Week 10: What's Done, What's Left

Holy crap! I just completed the animation for scene 5! Not a really big thing you say? Well, let me tell you, this is the fifth of seven scenes that I have to do for this film - not including the opening and ending credits. That means I am five/seventh of the way done with this film. That means the light at the end of the tunnel I am seeing now is not a speeding locomotive coming to turn me into roadkill. Additionally, this is the first "connective" scene. In other words, this scene fits in-between two already completed scene - and guess what? IT FITS PERFECTLY!!! I'm not talking about it's length, but in terms of positioning of the character. I did have to tweak things in terms of exporting to get everything correct, but once all the scenes had the same setting applied to them, the film looked seamless. Which means that the film now runs complete from the beginning of scene 4 to the end of scene 7. On top of all this, I have completed the poster, the opening credits, and completed the music track - WOOT!!! Right, now I have to finish off scenes 1, 3, and the ending credits (which I will probably work on and complete in class tonight). You know what that means? There are only two more scenes left to animate.

Two more scenes. Deaus meus. Bohze moi. My god...it's full of stars...

Don't mind me, I'm having a moment. Stay tuned...

Week 9: If...

All right, if - and I do stress "IF" - this film finally gets completed, I have found some places to send it to for screening (some rather cool ones, BTW). Here is the list for consideration:

1.        Rochester International Film Festival – deadline February 1, 2011 (next year, maybe)

http://www.rochesterfilmfest.org/

2.       Ottawa International Animation Festival – deadline May 20, 2011

https://animationfestival.ca/index.php

3.       Spike and Mike’s Sick and Twisted Festival of Animation – Appears to have open submission

http://spikeandmike.com/sitepages/festival.php

4.       ASIFA-East – deadline February 8, 2011 (next year, maybe)

http://www.asifaeast.com/

5.       Buffalo International Film Festival – deadline June 30,2011

http://www.buffalofilmfest.com/

6.       Annecy  International Animated Film Festival – deadline February 1, 2011 (next year, maybe)

http://www.annecy.org/home

7.       SIGGRAPH Computer Animation Festival – deadline April 15, 2011

http://www.siggraph.org/s2011/for_submitters/computer-animation-festival

8.       Reel 13 – ongoing submissions

http://www.thirteen.org/sites/reel13/submit-short/

9.       Atlanta Shortfest Film Festival – late deadline May 31, 2011

http://www.festivalleague.com/animationattack.cfm

10.   Drunken Zombie Film Festival – deadline August 30^th, 2011

http://drunkenzombiefilmfestival.com/

11.   The Zombie Short Film Festival – deadline October 1, 2011

http://www.zombieshortfilmfestival.com/

I know this list seems all over the place, but I wanted to find some local (Buffalo and Rochester), some not so local (Atlanta), some internationally famous (Siggraph and Annecy), and some genre special (can you actually believe there is a "Drunken Zombie Film Festival?" And it's famous for finding distributors for the movies screened there!).

Making this list has helped to pump me up (especially finding the zombie film festivals). I think I might just actually get this thing finished after all.

Week 8: The End Of The World As I Know It

Once upon a time, there was a very famous writer, who when asked what his process for writing was said that, "it's very simply really, I just stare at a blank piece of paper until drops of blood appear on my forehead." I think that anyone who is familiar with the concept of creative process understands exactly what that author is talking about. I'm familiar with my own process and there comes a time - somewhere between half and two-thirds of the way towards completion - that drops of blood start to appear on my forehead. It's not a fun experience. In fact when I reach that point I will often come very close to scrapping the project and moving onto something new. New is exciting, new is fun, new is filled with promise, while old is dull, drab, painfully slow to progress and fraught with difficulty. My film "I Hate Zombies" has reached this point, in spades.  Not only do I question my ability as an animator and writer, but my abilities as an IT technician as well. Almost everything that can go wrong with this project has gone wrong:  lack of inspiration, frustration and "blanking out" in animating, a hard drive crash, hours of delays due to personal and family obligations, time stolen by work/another class/driving to and from home/work/school, and near fatal static charge on my thumb drive, lack of sleep, and a general panic attack. That having been said, I find that if I just grind on - regardless of the problems and my own emotions - I can complete the project, whatever it is. Usually, months later, I'll review the project and wonder how I actually did it. This film project is grinding right now and I'm feeling very burned out. I cannot honestly say that I will get it gone in time, but I will try. After all, there's always hope. Simply because it's the one thing we haven't figured out how to kill...yet. Hopefully I'll be able to look back on this in a few months and enjoy the fruits of my labors. Stay tuned...

Week 7: Scenes 6 And 7 Are Done...Mostly...

Oh my freaking god. I have finally finished working on scenes 6 and 7 - the final two scenes in my Sophomore film. It has taken me over three weeks to get to this point, and that is unbelievably frustrating. But they are done. Mostly. And by mostly I mean, they are done for a first past. I want to get the whole of the film done, so that I can go back - looking at it frame by frame - and see where the timing the good/bad/indifferent - and improve it. Of course that takes time, and as you can guess by my last blog entry, time is not on my side. Fortunately, next week is Spring Break. Ordinarily that wouldn't be a big thing since I work so much that days off from school are meaningless. But in this case I have worked a DOWOP day (Day Off Without Pay), my single vacation day this year, and my regular day off during the week into a pseudo vacation where I'm only working two full days during my time off from school. With luck this extra time will allow me to play catch up my film and any projects due in Animation III. What is probably won't allow me to do is relax, sleep in, catch up on fun things, and generally relax. I expect to be more stressed out by the time I come back from break, but for now, scenes 6 and and 7 are done. Mostly. That kind of gives me something to celebrate. More to come, stay tuned...