Writing again and actually making progress this time. This week I hope to finish up the last revision of the story outline, then after that I'll start writing dialog. I need to start calling this project something else. "Akaishirai" was something random I chose, what I thought meant "red thread" at the time, so it became a working title. Working titles are just a handle to call a project by, while it's in production. Maybe I'll just call it "Untitled Chris Bobko Feature Anime Horror-Science Project." I have a feeling the title will ultimately have something to do with yokai and the legends around them.

Thanksgiving was good. Got to take mah car on a road trip, had my laptop for good musics. Was able to do the drive one way in 12 hours, so it was pretty good. Atlanta is really pretty at night, but the traffic still sucks. The holiday was pretty low key, but I got to see the family which was very good. Didn't get much done in the way of video like I wanted to, because people didn't show up, and my little brother just got a new job so he was only around for 2 days of the whole vacation. That's fine though, I'm glad he has a job now.

Watched a few eps of WW2 in HD...it's terribly meaty. D:

Tags: akaishirai, script, ww2
Current Location: work

Feelin pretty good now. Thanks to Todd and Ying and George for the Let's Plays, that was pretty fun.

On the topic of Let's Play, I was trying to figure out what game I would play. Out of curiosity I went looking for a game I used to love the hell out of when I was a kid. I had looked for it before, but could never find it.

In middle school, everyday for lunch, my mom gave me $3. I could get a full lunch for $1.25, or if I really skimped, buy a few bread rolls and a side for 5 cents each, and a can of juice for 50 cents. Most days I would do this, and opt to only pay a full 75 cents for lunch. The remaining $2.25 was coveted afterschool cash.

After the bus ride, I would grab a snack at home (to make up for the malnourishment at school) and walk about a mile to our town's "gas station" which had not actually sold gas since 1975. But, they did have a game room, with a pool table, and a few arcade games. They had a NEO GEO box which had 4 games. One of these was Andro Dunos.

Andro Dunos is a sidescrolling spaceship shooting game, built around 4 different weapon types. Each weapon type has it's own unique use, from full frontal assault to covering your ass to wipe out everything that is coming at you. Also, you collect powerups to add a level to the weapon. This powers up everything across the board, and you can get up to 7 powerups. The nice thing is, if you get in a pinch, you can hold down fire, use up one of your powerups, and UNLEASH HELL.

The $2.25 had to be spent carefully. When I was "on", I could proably get halfway through the game on a couple of quarters. Some days I would just crash into stuff and die and make stupid mistakes. I never actually beat the game, it gets to the point that even maxed out, you don't have enough firepower to repel all the enemies. The best thing you can do is just try to dodge their shots and clear out a hole to get through. You can always continue, but I was too poor to spend 10$ to beat a level.

One day they took the NEO GEO box away, and I never saw that game again. I tried looking for it on the net, and I could barely find any reference to it at all. Supposedly it could be played with MAME, but I could never find it. So just outta curiosity I googled it again to see if it was around, and lo and behold, somebody not only got it and got it to work, it works REALLY WELL. They packaged it with an emulator and everything! So I dusted off my gamepad, got it up and running, and HOLY SHIT IT'S LIKE I REMEMBER ;___; SO FUNNNNN ;_;


(Work needs to be over now so I can go home and play this)

Tags: andro dunos, vidya, zswins
Current Location: work, not playing AD
Current Mood: amused

Yesterday I sat in a business conference that lasted from 6:30am to 10pm. It was basically to recap the year, and have a really smart guy come in and talk to us about how to sell ads. That's followed by a rewards and recognition ceremony.

I had no pretenses about being mentioned for the work I've been doing.

Even with my huge pile of "holy shit you're awesome" letters from customers and sales, extra effort, excellent numbers, whatever, I went to this conference expecting nothing.

And nothing I got.

Especially the part of the yearly highlights video where I KNOW at least 3 of my sales people went out of their way to tell the interviewers that (quoting one of them) "he's the best thing to ever happen to the Ocala sales office."

I mean, getting a bonus or a prize or whatever is one thing, but to not even be mentioned?

Am I just some kind of sucker for punishment?

Tags: zsfails
Current Location: home, FINALLY
Current Mood: shitty

I like this random Kozue sketch. She looks like a girl who gets shet done. People of #amv agreed. I'm gonna do full character sheets and color stuff soon.



When I draw anime characters, I've noticed that I usually have a pretty hard time matching up the features of the head/face for a modeling reference in the side view.



I usually really suck at drawing direct side views of anime characters, but I'm liking this very much so far, and it actually fits up to the front view pretty well. We'll see how it translates into 3D.

Tags: akaishirai, indie and live to tell about it
Current Location: work
Current Mood: awake
Current Music: random radio

Got my Killer Bean DVD! Signed by Jeff Lew! Watched the special features last night, 2 hours of animation goodness. The funny thing is, everything that Jeff did for his film, I'm doing or have thought/planned about. I'm on the right track :3

The only difference so far is that what I have planned for things such as an audio kit are kinda overkill >____> Jeff said that he used 2 100$ (I'm guessing USB podcasting mics) for his production. The drawback, and I think it's a big drawback, is that the quality suffers a lot, and it's pretty hard to adjust your levels with no preamp. I definitely noticed some popping and peaking in the audio, as well as a flat and tinny quality.

So my budget for this is right at 1500$. Costly. But the great thing about this is, I will have a portable recording studio, and once I have this stuff, I can re-use for any number of animation or live action projects. This is like the perfect boom-mic kit for live action stuff. (except I'd probably get a Rode NTG2 mic in addition).

My kit so far looks like this...
$600 - Marantz PMD661 digital field recorder (handheld, has balanced XLR inputs, records to SD cards)
$250 - Studio Projects C1 Microphone (a really nice entry level condenser mic)
$300 - M-Audio speakers (pro surround sound speakers so I can mix dolby 5.1 in the edit)
$100 - Good pair of studio headphones for monitoring voice recording from the PMD661
$200 - For materials for a ghetto sound booth, mic stand, pop filter, shock mount.

Also, randomly in a debate on CGTalk as to how you can't make a film by yourself, that's just crazy talk. D:
 

Tags: akaishirai, indie and live to tell about it
Current Location: work
Current Mood: amused

Okay, so I wanted to jump back into working on Akaishirai this weekend, but barely touched it. My original intention was to take a week or so away from it after getting the crits back (but I also got sick) so that turned into two weeks. Not too bad. I at least read back over it and everybody's notes again, so it's fresh in my head and has been percolating.

This week looks to be a busy week work-wise, (and I have a concert to go to in Orlando Thursday night, FECKYEAH MUTE MATH) and the week after that also looks busy work-wise (have to go to St. Pete on a business trip), and then after that I'm home for Thanksgiving for a week! So that sorta disrupts my schedule for working on/having energy to work on Akaishirai for awhile. BUT, I still have some stuff going on, and felt like doing stuff, so this last weekend, I built a laser gun. Let me explain.

SHORT FILM PROJECT #1

When I was like 8, I had this thing I called my "junk box." It was a huge thick walled cardboard box, and it was full of junk. Electronic junk to be exact. Old things I had taken apart, random metal parts and pieces, lots of wire, old circuit boards, nuts and bolts, switches, relays, you get the idea. I used to build all kinds of cool shet out of those parts, and it is something I still do today and plan to use for upcoming film/art projects.

I was digging through old stuff on Saturday, and I found something I had made back then. It was a laser gun. It is crudely formed from large bent wire, with a bunch of parts wrapped up into a sort of wire frame. The barrel is made from a couple of bolts, wrapped with wire and fastened to the body. I laughed when I found it, because I had forgotten I even made the thing. I remember carrying it around with me when I was a kid, it was a favorite item. Inspiration kinda kicked me in the face at that moment, because I thought of a really cool idea for a short film, that is sortof related to a much bigger project I am working on. I decided it would be really fecking cool to do a "tiny" version of the big project, maybe for AWA Pro! And it wouldn't take that much effort, as I already have 90% of the props.

BUT, to make a big impact, I A.) did not want to destroy or remake my old laser gun, B.) needed a new laser gun that would be quite spectacular. So, after a weekend of digging through all the crap I have, and doing a lot of wiring and lighting work, I have a fecking badass prop laser gun built from old junk, that looks like an 8 year old kid made it.

I kinda don't want to show it off just yet, because that would ruin some of the impact. I want this film to be a surprise. I just was really happy with myself for putting this thing together. It's really pretty *__* Anyway, expect something big from me next AWA Pro. Not really a spoiler, since I'll be acting in the film, so anyone who knows me will know who made it .____.

And, there's also some other goodness I have planned. As many of you know, and if you have seen this:


My brother and my friend Phil and I have a kind of asshattery going on. So...

(Me=Weaselfeast, Phil=Sneaky Pete, My bro=Mad Ass Max)
(Also holy shet I need to reupload that in higher quality ;_;)

SHORT FILM PROJECT #2

Over thanksgiving break, we will hopefully be shooting a short comedy film idea we've had for a long time. It's titled "Natty's Revenge." You'll just have to wait on this one as well. All I can say is that it contains shotguns and wallabies.

Tags: akaishirai, asshattery, indie and live to tell about it, laser gun
Current Location: work
Current Music: CKY - Flesh into Gear

So here's something awesome. AWESOME.

So back in like 2002 or something, I remember standing with a group of people in our uni's Advanced Vis lab, watching a short film that one guy made. It was "The Killer Bean 2," and it was FECKIN AWESOME. While the modeling, texturing, and lighting were all fairly simple, it had amazing animation, BULLET TIME (big deal in those days), and it was hilarious. Unless you're a coffee bean.



So naturally, I looked the animator up. The guy's name is Jeff Lew, and he actually did work on the Matrix. So, the question was, would there be a KB3? He started working on it, but for a long time there was no news on it. Everyone assumed it would be a short, probably the last in the series. Then, this year, he reveals that not only was he working on new stuff, HE SCRAPPED KB3 AND MADE AN 85 MINUTE FEATURE FILM INSTEAD. Trailer below.



So now you can get the DVD for 16$. I ordered it yesterday, it's in the mail. The really kickass thing is that he includes SOOOO many extras on the DVD, something like 2 hours of bonus "here's how I made my film" stuff, previs stuff, concept stuff, etc. This is like pure gold for me, and this concept is one I'm definitely going to put to good use. I want to create a "how I did it" bonus feature documentary during/after actual Akaishirai production. I want to make my DVD worth it's weight in gold too.

Also, from a CGTalk thread on the subject, here are some other films, each created by ONE person. The production values range from great to ok, but I think you will agree, it takes an insane amount of work and passion to do this, so props to these guys.

"We Are The Strange"



"Archon Defender"

Tags: indie and live to tell about it
Current Location: work
Current Music: KB Trailer

Alrighty. Some people still have the script out, and I have not heard back. I would like to get your notes asap, as I want to move on with it very soon. To those I've talked with already, I just want to say thank you again. I learned a great deal, and there were things (as I knew there would be) that I overlooked that you guys found.

I have to say the results are a little surprising in a good way. Overall people seemed to like what I have going on, and have given some great advice. I'll be re-writing the entire thing from start to finish soon, trying to drive the story with the characters. Situation, emotion of character, response to emotion, action. This may alter some of the plot points, but it should also help make the characters and the situations they are in feel more real. Getting a reality check has left me motivated and ready to move on. So again, if I've not heard back from you, gimme :O

Other random news/things:

Saw The Bravery with the Orlando peeps, it was a good show!

Was sick for all of last week. It SUCKED. Doctor couldn't fit me in until today, now that I feel like a million bucks.

Caught up on my animoo, despite looking bland, this season has a few gems. Nyan Koi, Kimi ni Todoke, Scientific Railgun (had to go back and marathon Magical Index), Kampfer (for the lols)

My brother finally found a job \o/

Going to see Mute Math in Orlando on the 5th...KICKASS

Going home for a whole week over Thanksgiving to see the folks, can't wait.

Suffering from skype withdrawal...we need more poes

Tags: akaishirai, anime, fajit, life, movie, script
Current Location: work
Current Mood: accomplished
Current Music: Kare Kano - Yukino Miyazawa 1

Akaishirai Update!

The story outline is coming along. I thought about writing it as a short story to share with people, but I think that would be a lot of wasted effort that could be applied to writing the dialogue instead. I hope to have revision 4 of the outline finished up in the next week. When that is done, I will need a few good story-minded people to read over it and give me some serious criticism.

What I will be looking for is technical advice. Do my plot points work? Are there any major plot holes? Are the characters reacting appropriately to the situations they are in? Do they make good choices? Could you see the end coming a mile away? Anything you'd do differently?

If you are interested in doing this, I ask that you read it in a prompt manner, say, within two or three days, and then jump on skype with me for an hour or two to discuss it. I'd really like to talk with each person individually. I'm completely open to any and all criticisms of the project, and trust me, I won't be offended if you think it sucks :p

Another consideration is that I may ask you to look at it a few more times before I'm finished with the screenplay itself. So you need to be willing to check it out again. I only need about 3 or so people, so first come first serve. And, to offer some kind of incentive, I'll list you in the credits of the final film as script advisors or whatnot, and also give you a free dvd when the thing is done.

If you're interested, catch me on #amv and PM.

Tags: akaishirai
Current Location: werk
Current Mood: contemplative
Current Music: Muse - MK Ultra

1.) IF SOMEONE SAYS 'ARE YOU OKAY' YOU SAY?
BUSTAH WURFE!
Anamanaguchi - Jetpack Blues, Sunset Hues

2.) HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE YOURSELF?
Amon Tobin - Triple Science

3.) WHAT DO YOU LIKE IN A GUY/GIRL?
Nina Simone - Little Girl Blue [Postal Service Remix]

4.) HOW DO YOU FEEL TODAY?
Aya Hirano - Dondake Fanfare

5.) WHAT IS YOUR LIFE'S PURPOSE?
Muse - Take A Bow

6.) WHAT'S YOUR MOTTO?
Led Zeppelin - Misty Mountain Hop

7.) WHAT DO YOUR FRIENDS THINK OF YOU?
The Beatles - With A Little Help From My Friends

8.) WHAT DO YOUR PARENTS THINK OF YOU?
Tom Petty - Learning to Fly

9.) WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT VERY OFTEN?
The Beatles - Got To Get You Into My Life

10.) WHAT IS 2 + 2?
The Postal Service - There's Never Enough Time

11.) WHAT DO YOU THINK OF YOUR BEST FRIEND?
Led Zeppelin - Friends

12.) WHAT IS YOUR LIFE STORY?
Muse - Glorious

13.) WHAT DO YOU WANT TO BE WHEN YOU GROW UP?
Prodigy - Fire Starter

14.) WHAT DO YOU THINK OF WHEN YOU SEE THE PERSON YOU LIKE?
Gershwin - Rhapsody in Blue

15.) WHAT WILL YOU DANCE TO AT YOUR WEDDING?
Harvey Danger - Happiness Writes White

16.) WHAT WILL THEY PLAY AT YOUR FUNERAL?
Cruel Angel Thesis, Punk Remix Version

17.) WHAT IS YOUR HOBBY/INTEREST?
Harvey Danger - What You Live By

18.) WHAT IS YOUR BIGGEST FEAR?
Gorillaz - All Alone

19.) WHAT IS YOUR BIGGEST SECRET?
Chemical Brothers - My Elastic Eye

20.) WHAT DO YOU WANT TO DO RIGHT NOW?
Above and Beyond - Can't Sleep

21.) WHAT DO YOU THINK OF ONE YOUR FRIENDS?
Ulrich Schnauss - On My Own

22.) WHAT WILL YOU POST THIS AS?
Ulrich Schnauss - A Strangely Isolated Place

Current Location: A Strangely Isolated Place