Overdue baby
Am less than an hour away from heading into the hospital. Our first baby is 2 weeks overdue today so doctors are going to see what they can do to "speed things up" and get it into the real world.
I'm very nervous despite Marama being the one who has to do all the hard work.
I'll most likely be a dad by the time I get home, which is quite a strange feeling.. We've been getting calls from friends and family every day asking for news so it will be good to finally have an answer for them. Boy... or Girl...?
I'm very nervous despite Marama being the one who has to do all the hard work.
I'll most likely be a dad by the time I get home, which is quite a strange feeling.. We've been getting calls from friends and family every day asking for news so it will be good to finally have an answer for them. Boy... or Girl...?
Final-post-production
I submitted a 90% complete work-in-progress copy of the film to two film festivals because the deadlines were closing. It feels like the film is finished now, but it's not quite.
My schedule now, is to have the "online edit" complete by the end of next week (including final sound mix); which involves motion tracking several shots to give the impression of a hand held camera, bluescreen compositing (just one shot), and colour grading... Although this schedule may be put out by the arrival of our first child.
I'll put together an online trailer as soon as the colour grading is done.
My festival plan is to try a few A-list festivals this year (the film commission's faves), then submit to animation and human rights film festivals throughout 2010. It's such a long process - I'm ready to start on my next project already!
My schedule now, is to have the "online edit" complete by the end of next week (including final sound mix); which involves motion tracking several shots to give the impression of a hand held camera, bluescreen compositing (just one shot), and colour grading... Although this schedule may be put out by the arrival of our first child.
I'll put together an online trailer as soon as the colour grading is done.
My festival plan is to try a few A-list festivals this year (the film commission's faves), then submit to animation and human rights film festivals throughout 2010. It's such a long process - I'm ready to start on my next project already!
Supporting Oxfam
Strangelight Animation is now endorsing the work of Oxfam, fighting poverty and injustice around the world. Any potential profit from the The North Pole Deception will be donated to their efforts.
Strangelight.org
Sound design almost finished, rough cut almost locked down!
New website in development on strangelight.org!
Will put together a film trailer as soon as the colour grading is done!
New website in development on strangelight.org!
Will put together a film trailer as soon as the colour grading is done!
Wrap on Principle Photography!
The animating is done!
Now I just have to fine cut the film, fix up the sound design, and get my online editor Luke McPake to colour grade and composite a couple of VFX shots and the film is finished, finally!
The Naughty or Nice machine
(the screen will say Naughty or Nice, and if it says naughty the light below turns off)
CAUTION Wet Blood
Now I just have to fine cut the film, fix up the sound design, and get my online editor Luke McPake to colour grade and composite a couple of VFX shots and the film is finished, finally!
The Naughty or Nice machine
(the screen will say Naughty or Nice, and if it says naughty the light below turns off)
CAUTION Wet Blood
3 Shots to go!
A bit of "culture jamming" from Malcolm Xmas, the activist from Elf Liberation Front..
Behind the Rock Salt...
Behind the Rock Salt...
New sets in progress
These sets are to be finished, dressed and animated over next few nights.
Old phone books holding the set together with a bit of gaffer tape...
Haven't got a photo yet, but I actually painted a bunch of these steel hooks to look like candy canes... In the North Pole, they use candy canes as grave stones...
Old phone books holding the set together with a bit of gaffer tape...
Haven't got a photo yet, but I actually painted a bunch of these steel hooks to look like candy canes... In the North Pole, they use candy canes as grave stones...
8 Shots to go.
Need lots of candy canes to finish the film, but they're hard to find out of season (I'm sure I stored a box of them somewhere!).
Built half a street scene tonight, and only have one more big scene to go.
And by big, I mean... only 4 shots lasting a total of 18 seconds... I would stay up all night getting it done but the baby could come any minute now.
Built half a street scene tonight, and only have one more big scene to go.
And by big, I mean... only 4 shots lasting a total of 18 seconds... I would stay up all night getting it done but the baby could come any minute now.
9 shots to go!
After spending a day in a small room fine cutting, my wife Marama wanted to get out of the house tonight so we walked down the road and had a play with long exposure photography...
Yeovil Road by night...
Auckland city from Te Atatu Peninsula (with dancing ghosts)
30 second pose.
Am currently rendering the film (for playback) to do some fine cutting (it took 9 hours to render the entire 11 minutes last week).
Yeovil Road by night...
Auckland city from Te Atatu Peninsula (with dancing ghosts)
30 second pose.
Am currently rendering the film (for playback) to do some fine cutting (it took 9 hours to render the entire 11 minutes last week).
"They'd replaced me."
I completed a 5 second clip and an epic 35 second interview shot of Malcolm Xmas today (pictured above). To be a little bit different, this shot will have his face blurred out to make him anonymous, and he makes gestures with his arms. Just in case, I animated his mouth as well, and just kept his eyes in the dark.
It came out quite well, except the computer crashed and wouldn't reload all of my file, so I had to animate a big chunk of it twice - which was rather painful. It takes about 25 minutes to save a 30 second shot (which is about 10Gb uncompressed), so I have to choose my save times carefully at the end of a sentence (because a lot can change on it's own in 25 minutes).
My workspace (the large tin under the computer was my tripod today! - I just taped the camera down and it was sweet!). That's also a lawn boules set holding up the wall against the baby cot.
Reported Mishaps This Year
Malcolm Xmas character is basically finished, I just have to spray paint some graffiti for the wall behind him and I can start animating him.
13 shots to go!
14 shots to go!
A few years have past, and now I'm almost finished animating! From there, I add handheld motion to the shots, and do a bit of colour grading, and minimal VFX work - and it'll be sent out to festivals. Although animating is somewhat on hold for now, as my wife is due to have a baby today...
Setting up the festival sites with the project, I stumbled across this cheesy video of me from 2006:
Joe Hitchcock - 2006 AMP Scholarship
Setting up the festival sites with the project, I stumbled across this cheesy video of me from 2006:
Joe Hitchcock - 2006 AMP Scholarship
Malcolm Xmas.
Jamaine Sonny Ross, the voice of Malcolm Xmas, a street artist / activist from the Elf Liberation Front (E.L.F):
More factory stuff:
More factory stuff:
"If you don't work hard today..."
Animated 5 shots on one factory set today.
If I have time I'm going to build another workstation, but may settle for this one...
Bluescreen test composite: (Workstations will eventually get smaller to a vanishing point...)
If I have time I'm going to build another workstation, but may settle for this one...
Bluescreen test composite: (Workstations will eventually get smaller to a vanishing point...)
The Factory
The factory component to the film is actually really minimal, but I assembled, painted and dressed the set today. I was going to animate tonight but need to rest, so will begin animating the factory tomorrow.
Nearing completion..
Finished the elve's house with cutaways...
Work now begins on factory workstations...
Work now begins on factory workstations...
Dialogue wrap on elves!
Just finished an epic 6 hour animating session, to complete a 56 second shot (the longest in the film). This completes the elve's house, and all the shots with dialogue, so I won't have to deal with so many mouths!
Checklist:
Last dialogue script:
Finally opening the windows after insane temperatures in the blacked out room..
"I don't know how to read though..."
Completed a 27 second shot yesterday, originally planned to be a 47 second shot - I had some trouble with the character but there was a natural end to the conversation in the middle, so all was good.
This was my first attempt at multiple voices at the same time (because the elves talk over each other), only 2 more shots like this to go before I can strike the elf house set.
This was my first attempt at multiple voices at the same time (because the elves talk over each other), only 2 more shots like this to go before I can strike the elf house set.
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