After many weeks of false starts, I finished work on my animated promo film for the “Another Hole In the Head” horror film festival. Some time ago, Eric Ringer contacted me to see if I could do something for the horror arm of the San Fransico Indiefest. Sure, I said I’d love to… but finding the time was a challenge.
In any case, the zombies got done over the weekend, and now you can see the final result. I was working from a specific storyline that Eric had in mind. I made a couple changes to simplify it, but I’m pretty happy with the result.
Stay tuned to http://www.sfindie.com for tickets and more info in the coming months.
Animation by Mike Boas. Music by Alec Jenkyn Williams.
When Aaron Vanek asked me for an animated promo for this year’s H.P. Lovecraft Film Festival event in Los Angeles, I knew I couldn’t resist. I also knew I was in the middle of about 12 other projects and I’d have to carve out the time to do it.
So I spent this past Labor Day weekend hip deep in Flash animation. I reused some cartoon heads from an abandoned Lovecraft short (I may get back to it some day), but all other tentacles, rats, and gravestones are new.
If you’ve been watching my social feeds, you’ll know I’m in love with the work of British animator Cyriak. His use of loops and editing was an influence here.
I also took the opportunity to play with textures and color modes in After Effects. That’s something I’ve been doing in my still work lately, and it’s a fun challenge to apply it to the flat images from Flash.
Music is by Alec Jenkyn Williams.
For tickets and info on the HPLFF in LA September 11, 2010, visit http://bit.ly/hplffla
Here’s the artwork (so far) for the lunchbox props we’ll be using in the Rochester Movie Makers summer shorts. I’ve got a few things I still want to touch up, but I think it’s pretty close.
But that’s only the beginning! At least two shorts are going to require additional lunchbox characters. I’ll have to jump into those next.
If you have any interest in seeing the long hours of Photoshop painting that went into creating Mad Monster, check the links below.
Part 1:
http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/6388643
For this year’s Rochester Movie Makers Summer Shorts, we are introducing a linking motif. For those who wish to take part in a larger anthology film, our writers are incorporating a MacGuffin — in this case a red lunchbox. We wanted to give that lunchbox some personality, so I proposed some fictional branding. It’s important to avoid copyright issues (like if we used a Spider-Man lunchbox) so our prop will be emblazoned with the MAD MONSTER identity.
I’ve spent the last couple days working on the perfect retro font style for the Mad Monster. My goal is for the box itself to be a product of the monster mania of the 1960s. Universal monster movies were playing on TV to kids who’d never seen them before. Their popularity led to Aurora model kits and publications like Forrest J. Ackerman’s Famous Monsters of Filmland.
I imagine that a character like Mad Monster would have appealed to those kids. He appeared on lunchboxes, but is now almost completely forgotten. Those lunchboxes are prized collectibles today.
To find the right inspiration for the design, I looked at magazines, toys, and comics of the era. I especially examined the covers of Famous Monsters. I like the the letters in the left column interlock with each other.
I also thumbed through an issue of today’s greatest horror publication, Rue Morgue. Check out the font used in the lower right, for the name Paul Naschy. The spiky serifs seemed like a good way to go.
After countless drawings, I scanned my favorite treatment and applied color and texture. The next step will be adding the monster character. (The font had to be done first so I would know what shape he’d be leaning against.)
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