Sound Studio Success!

What a week! The first recording session for Axes is over! Lots of fun, fantastic cast, but I'm glad to be through it. With production ramping up, there may be some changes to this here blog, which might mean fewer updates, but rest assured: progress is happening. And now, as a partial non-sequitur, here's a poster from Finn's room. Is there anyone out there who would NOT want to see this movie?

Mini-Update: Evening in Harlem

Although I learned last time that "Mini-Update" results in "Mini-Interest," there hasn't been a lot of progress this weekend other than additional casting and artwork, (exciting, but more of the same). Eagle-eyed viewers might have noticed some Christmas signage within the previously posted butcher shop background, but been confused by the lack of Christmas weather. This update remedies that baffling conundrum, and showcases the versatility of these backgrounds. Not only is the winter setting more clear, but it's also nighttime!

Because we wanted to make the sight gags harder to spot.

Admittedly, this is a baby-step. I won't be posting every single tiny bit of artwork associated with Axes in the future, but these backgrounds are the brunt of production right now. I'm also learning a lot about both Photoshop and After Effects, so hooray for career-related skill development!

Character Introduction #4: Slaughterhouse Jive

Now this is where things get weird. Again.

Slaughterhouse Jive (Finian "Finn" Mathers)

Age: 19

Plucked from: New York, United States, 1982 AD

   Born a poor white child in Harlem, NYC, young Finn grew up enamored with African American culture, a longing outsider within his own neighborhood. Actually, he was more enamored with African American pop culture, forming his perception not from his surrounding reality, but instead from blaxploitation classics, early hip-hop, and stage acts. Stereotypes were increasingly enforced and accepted with everything he saw, from early minstrel shows to cutting-edge stand-up.

   By age thirteen, Finn was a good-natured, but wildly misinformed "afrophile." Alienated by both his schoolmates and his sexaholic single mother, Finn was able to secure a job at a butcher shop. Then, after eating a radioactive Christmas ham given to him by his boss, his melanin output increased tenfold and he became, in a word, black. Also, he got some superpowers or something.

   So yes, we agree that Finn is a bizarre, somewhat controversial character, but bear with us here. Finn isn't simply a misguided twist on the "token black" teammate so prevalent in today's entertainment. We of course plan to use him as a vessel in which to explore a number of other sociopolitical themes, an axe-wielding John Howard Griffin, if you will. Or maybe our pilot will get picked up by a wary network, and we'll be forced to change Finn into a genuinely African political activist named Malcolm Axe. Sigh... one can dream.