Gifts, I Guess

There's been a bit of a hiatus this summer as I've been dedicating myself to both smaller and larger projects, and just have not seeing much point in updating. But just for fun, and to assuage rumors of my premature demise among my 5 followers, I decided I'd post some of my little projects--most of which are just the little cartoons I make my friends and family on their birthdays and such. They're good practice, and some point I might try hiring myself out for little commissions like these, so they're good for gallery-building in that respect. One of these is for a friend who's birthday has yet a month to transpire, so shhhh!

By the way--I scored a job! And a great one! I'm doing art and animation for the USC Viterbi School of Engineering's Communications and Marketing Department. Basically I'm promoting the work of our school's students and staff with my art. I get to work remotely--a freelance job. So I have a great deal of flexibility, save expenses, and have the time and option of taking on another job if one is made available. Here's a concept sketch I made for my boss today for my current assignment.

The Humbling Experience of Becoming an Award-Winning Director

Will and I won the USC Shoah Student Film Contest with the prize of $1500! It's nice to have all of our hard work pay off. Special thanks once again goes to Radical Face, who would have earned my lifetime fan-worship for their generosity in letting us use their song, "The Strangest Things," if they didn't already have it for their haunting and beautiful music.

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.