Bloody Red Dead Man, Let's get it in!

"I dare do all that may become a man; Who dares do more is none"



Always was a fan of the play Macbeth (even if it is a 'Shakespearian' play). So an idea for making a short animation has been churning in my head for over a year now. So (on and off) iive been putting together storyboards and animatics, reworking the idea twice (serves me right for not meshing out a script first).
What got me about Macbeth when I came across it in my studies in Ja. it wasnt like the others..it was the first 'tragedy' I came across, and when you surpass the language barrier, it becomes a gruesome tale of ambition and the callous pursuit of greatness. Yes, I am a Scarface fan.

Red Man, the title of the animation I'm doing really came about after watching a documentary of Scotland and reading about the true King Macbeth. What became apparent was:

1. Scotland has always been a country that has desparately tried to ferment their independence from foreign king and rule, battling corruption from tyrannous home bred kings and traitors to France and England.
   



2. King Macbeth, by all appearances was an ok king. No witches, no scandals. None.

So obviously Shakespearian Macbeth is just English propaganda, xenophobia and Anglophilia all molded into one.

So my film will be a twist on the Shakespearian play, but remaining within the play's paradigm. It focuses on Macbeth's last hours and gives an alternative interpretation of why he committed regicide and took the throne. Patriotic, crimson defiance all around.

Plus I always believed Macbeth's greatest flaw was never being overly-ambitious, but being superstitious. I got through fully animating two scenes and it looks cool. I'll get some screen shots up here soon.

Sum up,
Words to live by: "There 's daggers in men's smiles".

The Diary of a Freelancer: the Creatives and the Gatekeepers

In order to thrive, albeit survive in the turmoil of Britain's "creative" landscape, you have to decide who you will emulate and surround yourself with. There are generally 2 types of people, in any creative industry, whether it is music, film or art:
The Creatives and the Gatekeepers.

The Creatives are holders of great phantasms, weavers of whims. We take something, ordinary or blande, and make it tremendous, a monolith amongst the drab and bore. Their lives become testaments to their craft. It was an Egyptian philosophy (and im transcribing here)that said the first thing a man must realise is that he will never truly master his craft, but his aiming to do so, even though he knows it is never truly going to happen, is the mantra of the Creative. Nihilistic yet triumphant all in the same breath.

The Gatekeepers are a whole other beast. They usually have high positions in your industry, an industry they have little or no knowledge of or attachment to. Sycophantics and socialites by nature, they usually have access to sh*t loads of money. Profligate and insidious. Money gives them power, and through their small minds they determine what gets made and which projects get overturned.

So essentially the Gatekeeper is really a wall of mortar and ignorance, creating a barrier between the Creative and his or her artistic expression.

But there are hybrids that come from these two influences. There is the Quasi-types, that blend the best of both, and usually have a strong creative background.And there are the Pseudo- Creatives (Creatives who arent really creative) and Pseudo-Gatekeepers (even more pretentious, the ones that play the part, but arent good either at art or handling money). I would call names... but the list would be too long for this blog and they arent worth the sweat under my ball sac. Want to see an example of this dynamic? Read this article.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/2010/may/16/british-film-industry-fund-women?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter

So the only question that remains:
Who do you represent?

Sum up,
Being a boss is more about direction than it is about control. Wake up you dumb bastards.

Do It Yourself- Philosophical Masturbation

Saturday was a real pain in the ass. DIY. Bed. upstairs, downstairs. desemble, reassemble. Lifting. Bending, hunger pains, shish, Allens head, philips head, screw this, screw that, screw you. Facebook, subliminal sparring with a mental midget, taking hours to assemble one chair (instructions and illustrations were utter rubbish. But its done. :) and I'm resting.

One more day to vote for the paypal ad i did, or at least go view it:



Bout to get sum dinner boy. I'm also happy cause even in the confusion I helped erect a bed, dining table and just about finished my sisters site ( just a bit more coding etc needed, nothing major).



Ignore the margins...theyre just for structuring.


A few promising meeting this week and next. One- storyboarding, two- editing. Ill let you know.

Oh Remi got that Sweet short filmed...he says it's 90% shot. I say that's 100% awesome. Cant wait to see post production.

Sum up,

Ending one chapter,
starting another

Getting Blunted (straight piff!)

Hey dudes,

What's up...hell yeah, it's all good, taking in this sun. F*ck yeah. Yesterday was cool, went got some food, rice and peas, jerk chicken... Fu gave some leasons on that HTML, CSS sh*t... yeah, finally getting the hang of it,,, seeing the logic behind all that code. "Whoa, I know kung-fu". Revelational stuff. Currently doing a shit course...CIW Web design... a panic course I started in the midst of the credit crunch climate (consonance number 3). But at the very least, when I need to promote a film, Ill be able to build something functional meng. Provided I finish the goddamn thing. Started 2009... havent fully jumped the 2nd hurdle...there are 4 main hurdles. But it will be done...just had to pay some bills, make that guap, dineros, wonga (what a stupid slang), paper, stacks. Breakfast/lunch time and i'm hungry. Anyone buying? Currently designing my sister's site...top a top chef, Managing director of her own culinary/cake decorating business...ill give y'all the link when it is done. Any way, did the Sweet boards in the nick of time. Ill show you first one I did., yeah, here ya go:



Gone to do some work, Peace out and love life baby. Im here to save the world, so hold on.

Mellowed out, and understands why the Egyptians gave their allegiance to the sun god Ra.

Short and Sweet

Working on the Sweet script with my boy Remi. He's directing it, I'm doing the story art. will have something to show ya by friday. It's a nice little short, with potential for some film festival prizes, so we'll see.

Sum up,
Busy bee bustling.

Peace

The Diary of a Freelancer: the Contract

I told you all I'd be dishing out advice.
In a business where being screwed royally is as naturally occuring as cave formations, you kind of need to protect yourself. If you are as trusting as I am, you tend to want to trust the maniacal utterances of a dirtbag Managing Director or "Creative" Director. Don't. Get some one paper, and signed, no matter how small the job is. This is to make sure you are iron clad, whatever the outcome.Emails- detailing parameters for a job...you think that would be enough, but electronic data can be more easily altered...therefore there is deniability. A signed contract less so. Due date, amount to be paid, what needs to be done, all should be addressed.

Dont get me wrong there are some honest bosses out there, that stand by their word and pay up what they owe. I love those few, and they get my best work. Whatever you do, always do your best, and if you see a company acting shifty, divorce them. To tell you the truth I don't always follow my rules...stubborn yes. I'm in contention at the moment with one particular company. Well they were a company. Latest victim of the Credit crunch? No...more like poor financial handling. They either give me the ring-around or dont respond to emails. Meh. As much as you get screwed however, you remember, the work is yours. Sign everything you put out.... one that is visible, the other embeded somehow and made a part of the design in the image (if possible). Thats what I do with my story art, illustrations and film.
Get it. Good.

Sum up,
Never put a company's needs above your own. You can tell alot about a man by how he runs his business. And if your boss is a righteous asshole, you, unlike other employees, have the privilege of severing all ties.



Grazie, douche-fag.

Gun-Pop Music. ;) (No, no, just pop)

Thought I'd some reminiscing this week. It's bleak and cloudy outside, as is expected from British weather. I mean , c'mon, it's summer. What you call this?! Poor. But I guess its perfect conditions to get lost in the head.

Recently did 2 music videos at the beginning of the year/last year for indepedent artist Candy Rose...she's been making some remarkable headway and I wish her Buddha's blessing.

Indeed she's managed to create a whole new platform for my work, and kinda made me realised that im not terribly limited by my skills: graphic design, storyboard, directing, animator,package design, editor... I pretty much can go toe- to-toe with anything. You think I'd be content with that, but can't help feel like I'm a Jack-of-all-trades. But i guess if you look at all those titles, one thing sews them all together: whether you want to call it art, aethetics, illuminated third eye,quasar-tapping - it allows me to express creativity in numerous platforms, yet always humbling me when I see someone else's work that is phenomenal.

I did the main design for her album cover, singles cover and remix cover, she was content so I guess that made me content. Used mixed styles, photo texturing, painting, illustration, CGI.
Have a look:





The first music vid I did was for single You Are everything, done in the style of motion comic, (you know like watchmen). Result: about two months in, tired of seeing paper, ink pen ( which i cutely dubbed animator fatigue. Plus I had to balance my work on another music vid. But at the end I managed to get it all done:







The second vid I did, was a bit easier cause I properly gauged what had to be done, The motion style may use simple animation, but it is design and illustration heavy...that's what eats up the time. End result: I think given the time, it was ok:




Sum up,
God, I do try to keep busy, but how can I when this keeps distracting me




The last proof I saw was hella wierd. "Take your index finger and thumb, wrap it around the base of your tail, and stroke up to the tip of you tale" Oh, babies. Hella gay!