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"Behind the Scenes"
The chickens make an appearance in a review of the Sony PRS505 over at For What It Worths. Looks pretty cool, eh? I just love the idea of reading a sticky note on an eBook.
This cartoon appeared in a presentation at the National Safety Council in Chicago this morning. Polly from Hewlett Packard used it in her discussion of the unique safety concerns of cleanroom environments with 24/7 operations.
Okay I’m getting lots of questions about the music video, so here are some fun facts about the making of Phantom Mountain:
- I found out about the contest late so I only had 2 weeks to make it happen and I had no idea what I was doing, having never really tried animation – at least since drawing flipbooks as a kid. I spent the first day storyboarding, then 11 days drawing, and then 2 days shooting all of the photographs and editing the video.
- There are about 500 sticky notes in the video, including a butterfly and 4 or 5 stunt butterflies.
- There are over 1500 photos in the video. I used a digital camera on a tripod, which I had to sort of crouch over. My back was killing me!
- I drew so many cartoons that I actually developed a callus on the inside of my left thumb from drawing too much. Towards the end, I had to get up and shake out my arm every few minutes.
- The old clock radio on the table used to belong to my great-grandmother.
- The tarot cards are the Ryder-Waite deck, miniature version. The cards that appear in the video are: The Devil, The Tower, Death, and – briefly – The Fool.
- I love Dead Dog Bob’s surprise appearance. I didn’t plan to use him in the original storyboard. It just kinda happened.
- Will I do animation again? You bet I will! But I think I’ll give myself more time next time!
- How did I suspend the butterfly in the air? I used a bunch of different techniques: pins, string, and bits of yellow plasticine.
- Do I still have a day job? Yes, I did most of the work in the evenings and only took two days off for the photography work.
I’ve created an animated music video for Laura Veirs, who held a music video contest this summer. Of course, I didn’t find out about the contest until there were only two weeks left before the deadline. So for two weeks, I drew like a madman and took over 1500 photographs. I finished it at 3:30 a.m. in the wee hours before the deadline. It was completely insane. And I’ll be posting it on the site this Friday – but for now, here’s a sneak preview:
Make sure you stop by again on Friday to see the video. And wish me luck – the contest winners will be announced in the next couple of weeks!
Buy my new book!
