Saturday, March 10, 2012

Yeti Wizards! Ed Wood 24 Hour Film Competition


So we had 24 hours to create a film for USC's Ed Wood competition. Traumatic. The concept was largely mine--which I should either be pleased with or embarrassed by. No awards this time--although we had asked before time and been assured animated entries were eligible in the competition, on awards night they gave us an honorable mention because they said they had no category for animated films. 

WHAT?

But the important thing is that the animation department was represented, and we looked pretty darn good for 24 hours of work. Maybe next year the judges will open up their minds and realize SCA has an animation department, and that animation is an established form of film.

But more important than all that, this was my voice acting debut! Jabril bothers me about having no voice acting talent, but even he had to admit that this was the role I was born to play!

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Shoah Foundation Student Film Contest Entry


This was actually completed in the beginning of February, but I had to delay posting it for reasons relating to competition eligibility. The learning curve on this project was immense, and I learned a lot about using Toon Boom more efficiently and effectively. Will did such an amazing job on the sound editing--I'm still noticing new things he did to make the music work with the clips so successfully, and I was there when he did this.

Thanks again to Radical Face, one of my very favorite bands, for giving us permission to use their song "Strangest Things! It added so much to our video. I hope Ben Cooper would enjoy what we've made with his song if he gets the chance to see it.

We titled our entry "Strange Inheritance," because I think "strange" is how I feel about the holocaust--it didn't make sense, it doesn't make sense, it is unnatural, and I don't think I, or anyone else, will ever understand it. I tried to reflect my impression of warped reality in my art, and I think "Strangest Things," in addition to using our title adjective, has that same feeling. What sealed the deal on the title was when I realized survivor Evan Gershon said strikingly, "It was the strangest thing," in the first interview segment of the film when he talks about the plaster mask. These words really stuck in my mind upon hearing them because it was shortly after Will and I'd gained permission to use "Strangest Things" in our entry. "Inheritance" was a keyword from the film prompt: Inheriting the Holocaust.

Will and I are currently promoting our film online and on Facebook in order to compete for the Viewer's Choice Award. If you'd like to help support our film, please rate it here. If you REALLY want to help us, please share the link on Facebook! Voting is open until March 15th. The winners of the Shoah Student Film Contest will be announced in early April.

Cut-out Animation Exercise Extravaganza


Our assignment last week was to create a cut-out animation based on surreal animations, the 1970s hit Frank Film, or Terry Gilliam's work. I mixed Gilliam with surrealism--the opening walk cycle was based on one he liked to abuse. I was really loose with this assignment, and had a lot of fun creating something funny and straight out of my head and humor. 


I LOVE CUT-OUTS SO MUCH.


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