Deadline in Sight! (Good Thing?)

Well, since the last update was...

Oh, early October... wow, okay.

There's a reason for this apparent neglect, though, as we've been working very, very hard because we hope to enter AXES OF EVIL in the New York Television Festival Comedy Central Short Pilot Competition! The deadline is January 27th, requiring an 8-15 pilot presentation, and 8 minutes of animation, no matter how crappy, takes a long time. As of now, we have a little over 5, so with a month-and-a-half to go, we're in decent shape, but there's not really much time to slow down or proof-read blog entrees.

It's very exciting, though, as the winning pilot receives a development deal with Comedy Central! You can enter a sketch show, sitcom, animation - anything that would fit under the Comedy Central banner - but you shouldn't because we don't want any quality competition!

So don't.

Full-Frontal Nerdity

To those who are unaware (i.e. those who don't live with me), my average day is broken down as follows:

9 hours: Working for money/barrel-bottom scraping

2 hours (If I am lucky): Rotting in the subway

7 hours: This Axes thing

5 hours: Sleeping/Dreaming

1 hour: Eating/Bathing/Misc.

   Now that you know far too much about me, prepare for a little more. A few weeks ago, I used some "Misc. Time" to help direct a music video for good buddy and AXES OF EVIL voice-actor Joshua Desjardins, pictured below.

Bow-tie: Straight
Wearer: Not so much

  More recently, the video itself was unleashed upon the world, and has already made all of us very rich... in spirit or something. But yes, it's gotten some great responses, and even been featured on a few websites and blogs, including TV Addict and a meticulously detailed breakdown from FizzyPop. It's an unabashedly silly song and video, but it's also kind of an anthem of joy and pride and being yourself and there are lots of pretty colors, so watch it. I'm proud to have been involved.

Oh, also, the video itself:

Biggest Update Ever! (So Far!)

Get excited! As promised, an actual, fully-animated preview, in living color! Yes, this is the first cut of the  first scene of the first episode of the first... animated series starring a time-travelling King Solomon, at least as far as I know.

So, yes, without any more messing about, the video!

Don't forget, you can click the youtube icon for additional viewing options, like fullscreen n' stuff.

Someone please let me know if I can change the viewing settings here.

Keep in mind that this is not the ultimate final version, as there are a few little technical glitches and timing issues, as well as a lack of any sound effects or music. Nonetheless, it functions as a wonderful little preview for the madness and hilarity ahead.

Thanks for sticking around so far, and don't forget to tell all your friends, acquaintances, and co-workers!

Recording Complete

Great news: One phase among the multitude has been completed. After a rousing session earlier this week, all of the voices have been recorded! There for the occasion was another member of the AXES family, Matt Portman, who came all the way from the West Coast just to make sure everything went smoothly. Actually, he just happened to be in New York this week, but it was nonetheless great to have him. There were only two actors for this final round of recording, but jeepers did we ever have fun!

First, we had reigning "love-meister" Nate Chapman of Dateocracy fame as the Slumberjack...

Pending proposal for a live-action adaptation.

...and ABC Family heartthrob Zander Eckhouse in the role of God.

Seen here posing for a Windows XP background.

Both gave great performances, and really took the care to bring actual depth to their characters. I would like to take this opportunity to semi-publicly thank all those who have volunteered their time and talents to AXES thus far. Everyone, without exception, has given it their all, which will make my job much easier as I continue to animate this thing. With every session, I've been increasingly happy with my decision NOT to do all the voices myself. The next update, (hopefully) later this week, will be the BIGGEST EVER, so hang onto your modems!

Bible Comics!

Guess what? There's been progress.

   Last week, we successfully recorded even more voices, and there's just one more session on the way, most likely mid-September. In the meantime, there is kind of a lot of other work to be done, so I've begun some storyboards and - as referenced previously - actual animation!

   I may post some videos soon, but since posting pictures is far less complicated/labor-intensive, here are the completed storyboards for the opening scene, gloriously off-model. (Note to self: Make model sheet.)

As can see (if you do that whole "click and enlarge" thing), it is a very lovely recreation of everyone's favorite Old Testament romp. Now that I have it as a reference, I know that it will at least sort of work on screen. Only 1400 more drawings left before it's animated, so I'd better get moving.

Sunshine and Such

Still plugging away... backgrounds... storyboards... organizing the second and hopefully final recording session for next week. Speaking of which, a shout-out and thank you to Solar Film/Video Productions for providing AXES with recording facilities. Quality studios are hard to come by, and they're usually super expensive, so I must express my appreciation to owner/president/oddity Eric Lau. Also, filmmaker friends, if you're in the NYC area and are looking to improve your production chops, I oh-so-shamelessly must point you to Eric's monthly lighting workshop. He's done some seminars on behalf of Apple (COMPUTERS!), had Oscar-nominated participants, and I'm seriously done plugging now.

  With the nod to Solar behind us, I feel it's time to go in the complete opposite direction and post something with a flagrant lack of sun, so here it is: the tower of the Electrocutioner.

Maybe some day I'll have something to show besides backgrounds, like possibly animation or something. You won't want to miss it!

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?