| "Shame of the Otaku" |
[Dec. 11th, 2009|04:54 am] |
So frustrated, ugh. Tried drawing, epic fail due to me STILL NOT REMEMBERING TO SAVE MY WORK and then the computer turns off. Then I had a thought about the comic.
( ARGH rant noise )
Here's the gist for the TLDR crowd out there. Would you scrap everything you have so far, delay something you really want to get started, and redo all the hard work you just finished, just so you can tell a better story? Or do you plug on through, and find a way to make a bad situation into a good one? Creative problem solving.
Thoughts internet? |
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| "Yellow Lasers" |
[Dec. 10th, 2009|03:59 am] |
Ugh. Today was the day of frustration.
After work I got home and started on some Tekko Christmas art, only to have the power cut out before I saved my work...twice. Yeah, I'm retarded and should know better. Third time I got so frustrated that it was turning out like crap I stopped. I feel bad. I really want to rebuild my rep and get away from the much deserved image of "That guy who does good work but never does it". I want to do art for Tekko and get it turned in on a timely fashion, but my art's just sucking as of late so I'm pulling out my hair worrying about it not being any good. Ugh.
Took a break to continue on the script. Started off frustrated, but eventually got into a good grove. Two more pages, then its done. Reading over it now. Feels good to see progress, even if its not the thing I should be working on at the moment. |
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| "Caligulove" |
[Dec. 9th, 2009|08:02 pm] |
First script is this close, THIS CLOSE to being finished. Clocking in at 30 pages (possibly 31 if I stretch out a fight scene). Pretty much just fine tuning the dialogue and panel layouts. Really anxious to show it to anyone, but really want crits, so the usual writers I nag for feedback can expect their in-boxes flooded soon enough.
Oddly enough its just now dawning on me that I have to draw all this. Kinda daunting, since I don't think the art's gonna live up to the wait. But then again, the whole reason I'm doing this is for the practice. Just gotta keep reminding myself that this is a learning process, and its not going to be my greatest work right off the bat. Been getting a whole lot of "why are you even doing it?" vibe from my family. They don't get why I would spend so much time and place so much importance on something that's not going to yield any financial results. So why am I doing this? Because fuck it, I can. |
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| "Bandoliers" |
[Nov. 28th, 2009|05:15 am] |
Woke up with a ridiculously upset stomach. Started dry heaving only to have it wuss out and simmer down to nausea for the better part of the day. I blame "New Moon".
Played a delve with the normal people. Rolled up a 3rd lvl monk, new to 4th Edition, only available via Phil's magical computer box. Monk's bad assed. Loved playing him. Would do again...if only someone was doing a campaign.
Comic progress! Wrote 2 pages today! Woot. Not quite final draft, still needs a lot of tweaking. They're two pages of pretty much all exposition meant to establish that samurai's and ninja's are kinda common, and why people would work under such conditions. Hopefully it doesn't read as "EXPOSITION NOISE", but eh, still tweaking. Refined (aka 86'd) the dialogue on page 5...its all bad. Gotta re work the scene a little, but its kicking my ass. Took a break from it and wrote two pages, so that's good.
Tired, sleep. |
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| "New Fang" |
[Nov. 26th, 2009|04:22 am] |
I remember a time saying I'd write a journal with what I've accomplished in terms of writing that day...oh yeah, here it is. Its been a while. Truth be told, even before my comp crashed I was bummed about Katie and didn't get much done. Cut to a month later, and I get back on track...then a month after that, bam, dead comp...sooooooooo yeah. Here we are.
With ever so many thanks to Mere, I was able to get my old hard drive from my last comp put into my new one and use it as a slave drive. Then with some fenangling...we find out that my old hard drive is password protected and I can't copy the files without some more fenangling to allow it to share with a network or some such bull shit. Sent an e-mail to the guy who built my computer and Beatties IT guy (both friends of mine, yay resources!), but...yeah...Holiday Break...sooooooo...
TLDR, was able to get the most important files onto my new comp with magic. Thanks again Mere!
Taking some time off proved helpful, since now reading over what I had and taking the advice of Zeek, Cid, Katie and Ellen from their crit of my first five pages, I've done some very good editing. Fixed the main dialogue problems everyone pointed out. The first 5 pages read a lot better now, so mad props to those that helped. Realized in the third to last page I pretty much spoil the big reveal I'm saving for the last page, so 86'ed that. Oddly enough the new ending reads a lot better with it gone. Also started doing panel breakdowns and some dialogue for about 5 pages, which is good progress since I didn't get home till 3ish last night and spent most of today running around for my dad. Its good to be working again. <3 my new computer.
Already plotting out the 2nd arc...its going slowly. I know exactly how I want the whole shebang to end, but do I really wanna do 2 back to back story arcs with mostly exposition about the who's and what's? Thinking the 2nd arc should be more Day To Day of the theater. Have some fun. Not everything needs to be an epic multi-part plot. Still needs to have a little bit of exposition tho...sooooo... Eh, whatever. Finish the first arc, see how I feel, then go from there. Yep. |
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| "Rock Lobster" |
[Aug. 6th, 2009|03:44 am] |
Fun Fact: I've had the guitar riff, and only the guitar riff, from "Rock Lobster" stuck in my head for the better part of the day. This isn't necessarily a bad thing.
Almost done with the page break downs for the first issue of SU. Not by any means a rough draft, but seeing what happens on all the pages helps me see what scenes can be cut, which need filled out, and help give screen time to some characters. Need to show a short passage of time? Lets see what the side kick is doing! Overall its coming together quite nicely, but I still need to tweak a few thing. Still working on the ending to no avail.
Went to dinner with Patches today. Turns out Kevin's whole gimmick is that he does Special Effects. There were some shots I wanted to do for the LARPers story that in my head the only solution would be some sfx. Assuming Kevin can and wants to, this could turn out awesome. I need to find out what's he's capable of doing and what he's willing to do and work the script around it. Also tried to get in touch with Paul, Ed's beau and resident Larper expert. Figured I could ask him questions about the rules, how combat works, how costumes work out and how much effort is put into them, etc. Problem is, I don't know his e-mail, and Ed's horrible at getting back to me. Asked via text, no answer. Asked him on AIM, waited 15 minutes, got a "Sure, hold on a sec and I'll let you know", waited 35 min, then he signed off. Fuckin' WOW. Messing up my things... |
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| "Hitching a Ride" |
[Aug. 5th, 2009|03:21 am] |
Another quick update, cause I'm too tired to rant.
SU progress is going good. Have most of the pages plotted out for the first issue, included some new gags and ntroducing a character now earlier then they appeared in other drafts. Still having problems finding out how to end a scene towards the end. Originally I was going to have the bad guys make their appearance known early on, with the Big Bad setting up his own demise at Yoshi's hands using a discarded weapon. Now that scene's cut, gotta figure out a new way to kill said Big Bad. I want the idea to be the same, Yoshi using an improv weapon left by big bad, but gotta work it into the plot somehow. Eh, it'll work itself out. Liking the new draft a lot more then previous entries, so hopefully the time I'm spending on it will be noticed.
Also got an idea for another short film...well, technically I've had it for ages, but gonna write it down now.
On Fandom
-2 or 3 cameras getting various close up shots of the interviewee.
-Shots of things mentioned by interviewee.
-Footage of interviewee in their natural environment.
A documentary of various fandoms and activities in pop culture. Anime, comic books, web-comics, RPG fantasy table top games, video games, furries, movies, etc. Cameras are pointed at the interviewee (duh), and a casual discussion about their chosen fandom is had. The point is to explain what their fandom is, why they love it, what people don’t understand, and how its affected their lives. Interspersed with scenes of the fandom in action (cons, comic book stores, film festivals) and the interviewee showing their own goods (costumes they’ve made, collections of books, their prizes and what not). Essentially I want to film people telling stories about the things they do that they love. I want to capture a natural un-scripted conversation, get something real. Potential problem? I think I can afford one camera. I'd be lucky if I can borrow another, and renting a second could be pricey. Might do in-between Bad Date and Lonely Guy. Might not do Lonely Guy at all and focus on this. It'll teach me almost all of the same things (shooting on locations but lose the visual storytelling without words aspect), and could be a lot of fun to shoot at these locations. I dunno. More things to think about.
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| "Monkey Wrench" |
[Aug. 4th, 2009|03:03 am] |
Yeah, tired. Quick update.
Plotted out the pages for issue one of the SU relaunch. Since I tweaked the plot this time around, having issues fleshing out the story for this issue. There was an image I really wanted to do that got nixed due to same problems. Eh, more time on it and it'll work out. Shaping up quite nicely if I say so myself.
Quick round of "Marvel vs. Capcom 2" then bed. |
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| "First of May" |
[Jul. 30th, 2009|04:21 am] |
Woke up to a wet windowsill and a flat tire. Turns out the area in front of my window (which is at ground level) gets kinda flooded cause my mom's rain drain (is that what they're called?) is fucked up and pretty much just spills out wherever. Joy. Flat tire due to 3 nails I ran over at some point. New tire; $70. Double joy.
Didn't get much writing on SU done tonight. Spent most of my time reading the shooting script for "El Mariachi" included at the end of "Rebel Without a Crew". Realized I don't know how to write for film. Comic scripts are pretty much the only thing I've ever written. They're similar, but I'm getting the feeling they're totally different too. Planning on buying more shooting scripts at Boarders to learn more. Checking out the interwebz too for useful info.
Did flesh out the story for the LARPers story a little. Decided the good guys definitely need to top out at 4. Leader, Rogue, Noob, and Barbarian. Noob is a guy who's there out of boredom. Never played the game before, acts as the...fuck's the phrase...point of view character. He gets the rules and situation told to him. Gets all the exposition. Leader is the guy who's really into it. Rogue wants to break all the rules aka lancer. Barbarian is silent the entire time. He's the Silent Bob character for the story. Writes in a journal that has a overly epic whimsically wordy narrative to it. Acts as the narrator (duh). Explains who the characters are, why they're there, what they're doing...maybe Noob isn't needed? Eh, worry about that later. Got some ideas for the scenes written down too. So far its...3...3 scenes... Either I flesh it out or leave it as is. Hope the action pads out the story and makes it feel like more went on. Dunno. Thinking of ideas, fun times.
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| "Ikea" |
[Jul. 29th, 2009|02:49 am] |
Working 3 jobs is big time fun, I assure you. Did some easy office work for my dad, then closed at Star Flicks. Got my schedule for Star Flicks and Blockbuster, now with conflicting weekends. Joy. Family's going out of town for vacation. Might use my paid time off and take that weekend off for a mini-vacation. Not too exciting, so we're moving on.
( Excitement! )
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| "RE: Your Brains" |
[Jul. 28th, 2009|01:07 am] |
Here's T.J. Here's T.J. writing things down on his often neglected journal. Here's T.J. realizing said journal hasn't really been used as a journal, and more of a "Hey people who read this, lets make plans" or "Here's my whiny rant about something I'm sure the internet is all curious to hear about". Here's T.J. thinking he shouldn't do that anymore, and maybe use this corner of the interwebz to keep down his thoughts. Here's T.J. having just finished "Rebel Without A Crew" and thinks he too should keep a diary of his thoughts and efforts on what he creates.
( Here goes T.J., watch him run. )
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| "Bat-toosie" |
[Jun. 22nd, 2009|12:16 am] |
Alright, now the "Dark Knight" getting snubbed at the Oscars, I can accept. Even if it was nominated, "Slumdog Millionaire" still would've slapped it around like Tyson vs a dead fetus. I'm ok with this, and I can understand it.
But seriously, what the fuck. "Twilight"? Fucking glitter and shit dialogue "Twilight"?! Best Movie of 2009? Better then "Dark Knight"?!?!? I get that its all vote's from the public...but what the hell. You mean to tell me the average MTV target audience member seriously thinks "Twilight" was the better movie?!?!?! And don't get me started on Best Fight...
Fuck you MTV Movie Awards. Stay out of my fandom.
.....I called dibs on movies as a fandom. Its all mine. You no touchy. |
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| Who Watches the Watchmen? |
[Mar. 4th, 2009|05:56 pm] |
Discussion time!
So in two days I, like many of you, will be in what will most likely be a packed theater filled with annoying chatty cathy's and sticky floors watching a comic book movie many thought unfilmable. "Watchmen" opens on Friday, and with the hype and marketing at full swing I think it'll be a big success. Many non-comic book reading friends of mine already have plans to catch it opening night. Many are treading into dangerous waters and venturing forth to find the local Imax just to watch a giant blue nude and glowing Billy Crudup float on Mars. I have no doubt that this movie will be successful, I just wonder weither or not it'll be good.
Here's my fear; there is such a thing as loving something too much. From the fans who immediately boycotted it upon learning of its existence to the filmmakers themselves the "Watchmen" franchise has a loyal following that will riot if things aren't done right. There are people complaining about how the costumes aren't 100% faithful to the original source material for months now. There are people complaining about the absence of a non-plot vital sub-story about a comic book featuring a sailor trying to make it home after his ship sank. And there are those who are already hunting Zack Snyder down with plans to tear him limb from limb for not putting the giant squid into the picture.
The biggest problem an adaption has is that everyone familiar with the original source material already has the movie in their head. They see how it should be done, with their perfect cast and an idea of what should be cut to shave time. They know the movie that they want, how much attention to detail they want, and they know how it should look. Thing is that art is subjective. What is the perfect look for one is the wrong choice for another. And already before even the first shot is filmed, the movie will not turn out like how someone will hope, because we all hope for different things. No adaption will ever be perfect, live up to Fanboy Group A's expectations, nor completely 100% faithful to the original source. It just won't happen. And when the message boards start to heat up it won't matter how good the adaption is, it could be considered by non-fans the greatest cinema achievement of all time, there will still be a large and vocal group calling it shit. Sometimes you can love something so much you can't accept the changes that happen to it from time to time.
There's another problem too. Loving something so much you don't pay attention to glaring faults. I'm not nit picking the comic, I'm just saying that in Zack Snyders hopes of making the perfect adaption, in putting on film everything he loved about the comic from the most tiny of detail, he might lose sight on one thing; what makes for a good movie and what makes for a good comic. "Watchmen" is 12 issues long, and each issue has several awesome scenes that many think a film adaption can't go without having. Problem is that in comics you can control the story and flow. You can breeze through the panels and pages, and these awesome scenes can only last seconds in your mind, but when you have real people saying these lines, and doing these exact movements you realize that the scene you can breeze through while reading actually last about 15 minutes real time. Frank Oz once said in a commentary I watched that if its not 100% vital to plot, cut it. Movies only have about 2 hours (sometimes more, sometimes less) to tell ITS story, then get the fuck out of your way when you leave the theater. Sometimes these awesome scenes need trimmed down. Lines of unnecessary dialogue get cut, the resolution comes quicker, and you can move onto the next scene. What if you don't do that? Leave everything untouched. You could end up with something that feels long and drawn out filled with scenes that aren't necessary and ultimately results in a faithful adaption but a boring movie that only the fans will truly appreciate.
My bottom line is this. I love the "Watchmen" comics, but when I go to see the movie, I don't care about them. I see the movie to see the movie. It's its own beast, something else for me to love and enjoy, and as far as I'm concerned if I need to have read the source material first to enjoy the movie, then something went wrong (I'm looking at you "Prisoner of Azkaban"). A movie is a movie, and a comic is a comic. Both are separate, and should be judged separately. And I'll do just that.
But I swear if "Watchmen" has its head so far up its own ass like "Return of the King" did, I'll kill a man. |
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| "Take a bow" |
[Mar. 4th, 2009|05:10 am] |
Things are going pretty good, which leads to Happy T.J. He tends to rant about things in no particular order nor reason.
( Fuck you Trebec! ) |
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| "Doll Parts" |
[Jan. 31st, 2009|02:51 am] |
So my mother reminded me earlier today that I have some money saved up in a retirement fund from working at Beattie. Every paycheck they'd take 7% and put it in a retirement fund for...well...when I retire. Whatever, I didn't plan on working there long enough to be living the easy life come Old Age, but still, 2 years worth of paychecks add up after a while. Roughly, I have $1,400 in the fund, and the amount I would get if I cash it out now (I think, not 100% sure) would be around $700. That's a fair amount of pocket change just sitting there waiting for me to use it. Problem is, use it on what?
See, problem for me is that I'm fairly broke. I live paycheck by shitty retail paycheck, and try to work for my dad when he has work for me. Its not enough at times, and it really stresses/depresses me out. A lot. I hate being $25 years old and not in control of most of my life, but that's a rant for another time. Point is I could use that $700 to make the next three months of my life a little less shitty. I could pay my rent, and have enough to buy some stuff for my new apartment and use all the money I get from working towards...I don't know. It would be a nice buffer at the very least, keeping me financially sound and save up to stay that way for a few months. Key phrase there being a few months. It won't last. I still work at a shitty retail store in a shit economy and I'll be just as broke in a few months, but at least the next couple of months would be better.
That's option A. Option B I think is a more long term plan. I want to buy a Mac. Placeholder here is crapping out on me. Its a piece of shit, and I can't install Photo Shop or Illustrator cause it would bring the already snails pace of my computer to an even slower grind. I also want to learn video editing. I've stated many times how I want to learn how to make films, and Mac's are apparently perfect for budding young film maker on a budget...who can afford a Mac. Get a decent digital camera, learn how to set a shot, and bam, I can be putting up 5 minute shorts on You Tube that only my friends will like. Not to mention that I haven't been drawing or making comics as much as I would like because I know that I can't do the Photo Shop magic most of my art needs to look presentable. And boy howdy would I love to learn how to paint digitally. These are just a few ot the things I could do on my new (or used if I can find one) Mac, which will hence forth be named Mac Attack. I know that $700 isn't enough to buy one (I think someone said that what I'm looking for would cost close to $1,000), but its a good start. At least a better start that what I have now saved for a computer ($8.75!!! In quarters!!!).
And there is my dilemma. Do I make my life slightly easier for a few months, or do I finally buy the damn computer I've been wanting for years (in Mac form)? Or do I say "fuck it" and buy a HD TV and home theater system from Circuit City? Or hookers? I dunno. Opinions? |
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| "Rise" |
[Jan. 25th, 2009|03:00 pm] |
Eh, bored.
The first five people to respond to this post will get something made by me! My choice. For you.
This offer does have some restrictions and limitations:
- I make no guarantees that you will like what I make!
- What I create will be just for you.
- It'll be done this year.
- You have no clue what it's going to be. It may be a story. It may be poetry. I may draw or paint something. I may bake you something and mail it to you. Who knows? Not you, that's for sure!
- I reserve the right to do something extremely strange.
The catch? Oh, the catch is that you have to repost. We can all make stuff!! |
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| Since everyone else is doing it... |
[Nov. 14th, 2008|04:01 am] |
Shit that I want as presents that no one will get me and my family won't find out about cause they're not internet savy and would assume that Live Journal would be a sentient thing that was taking over the internet or something,,,,like Sky-Net......not that they would get the Sky-Net reference anyway...
Anyhoo...
( List O' Gifts )
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| "Election Day" |
[Nov. 5th, 2008|04:58 pm] |
Am I proud of America? Not really. Did the candidate that I wanted to win, win? Yes, he did. Did younger voters come out in hordes to show that we're tired of only the elderly voting and electing horrible republicans into office? Yes, we did. Did, as the newspapers say, America showed that's its come a long way in equality by electing its first black president? No, we didn't.
In California, a Democratic state that Obama won by over 61%, they voted YES on Proposition 8.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/California_Proposition_8_(2008)
Lets not lie to ourselves, we're still the hateful, scared, idiotic nation we've always been. We just like a good show with plenty of drama and a gimick to get behind. Its like professional wrestling. Two men enter from the same entrance, two men fight in a fight that doesn't actually have any importance what-so-ever and that they try so hard to convince us isn't staged, and the guy who wins is the more popular one with the crowd who has his back. He gets the crowd by talking up a big show, makes us believe he'll destroy his opponent once and for all, and wins us over by his oh-so-clever and cool gimmick.
We're going around because we're oh-so-proud that we united and elected a black man into office, but we still vote against two people being able to express their love by spending the rest of their lives with each other.
Good job America, you haven't improved at all.
I should point out that I'm not very political, and to be quite honest, I was apathetic about both candidates but ultimately went with Obama since he's for Net Neutrality.......kinda. I just get fired up when we lie to ourselves.
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| This might be cool... |
[Oct. 31st, 2008|01:57 am] |
| [ | Current Location |
| | Belmont, CA | ] |
| [ | music |
| | Crowded Elevator- Incubus | ] |
So I got an e-mail today from a group that's working on a "Night of the Living Dead" tribute.
http://www.neoflux-animator.com/notldr/notldr.html
It was a generic mass e-mail asking if I was interested, but still. I think I might try something, I dunno. I'm not even sure if its legit. Would it be a waste of time working on it? Has anyone even heard anything about this group? Does anyone know a shenlon@hotmail.com, the person who originally sent me the e-mail?
Input and thoughts apreciated. K thx bai. |
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