Chalkboard Fun!

I don't know about you but I really love me some sweet, sweet typography - specifically, this kind of typography.  There's just something really special about font-mixing and I love that old world style and feel.  I felt as thought this was always within my grasp but not always within reach...until one of my walls in my office got the chalkboard paint treatment.
It's mainly for storyboarding but I've been inspired, like everyone else ever, to try my hand at that sweet-but-intimidating chalkboard art trend that's been happening for a while now.

First, it started like this



Simple enough, right?  Basic and not really too intimidating in the art department.  Then, I decided I'd move from the nautical theme that was forming and turn it into a sort of tattoo flash thing.



I tried my best to add some kind of text but my lettering was just NOT happening.  Then yesterday, I saw this post at A Pair and a Spare - AFTER I had started my "Always Watching" eye (you know, from the back of a dollar bill)



And it got me thinking...what if i just tweaked it a little and added elements from various things I've seen - like the, yes, bathroom wall at Cameli's?  So what?!  They have a chalkboard wall in there and they have sweet lettering in the way that I want to do lettering (but I always forget my phone to take a photo...).  And there are other things I see on my Tumblr dashboard that get my creative juices pumping.
So - I took my inspiration a little further with the dollar and added the ribbon underneath it to my chalkboard.



The lettering came from various sources but mostly this beautiful feature on For the Love of Type and The Loop.  Love it!  I especially love the "Meet our baristas" section!  So great!  That partially inspired the lettering inside the word "Video" in my ribbon but the size kept it from being larger.  The skewed / alternating 3D extrusion is something I have been seeing on Tumblr for awhile now and I really liked it so I wanted to try it.  Not bad!  The cursive was because I didn't have enough room to add 3D extruded text for the "Dept." part of it.  Oh well.  I'm thinking in my quiet moment before the chaos starts today, I'll do some scripting above it in the style of the coolest chalkboard artist EVER: Dana Tanamachi.

Her work is MIND-BLOWINGLY AWESOME!!  Check out her time-lapse videos to see how the magic happens!  I was in complete awe!  Her work is incredible and I'm hoping to take a page from her book and make something beautiful.  It makes me want to dedicate a chalkboard wall at home so I can experiment with her style.  So beautiful!!

And you know, this kind of experimentation with typography and illustration has reawakened my creative spirit.  It's making me look at things a little differently now.  I know animation and typography are not exactly the same but experimenting with different styles and actually taking the time to draw something out myself is changing my perspective on motion graphics.  It makes me think about the process a little more and it's helping me be able to fine-tune my key framing for more precise movements.  I never thought those two things would go hand-in-hand but it's a nice change!  Also - if I'm having an animation brain freeze, I'll take that time to sketch on the wall and come up with some ideas.  Definitely an office upgrade!

Wavves!!

Yesterday was quite possibly the weirdest day ever.
It started with my mandatory reporting for Jury Duty.  When I got the original jury summons last October, I had to have it rescheduled because of Cassie and Mark's wedding.  The rescheduled date wasn't a problem until we had to reschedule a mandatory software training at work in January.  I reported for that date but I informed the staff that I had mandatory training at work but I showed up because of the reschedule.  They told me I could reschedule again but I HAD to report or else!  Just kidding - but I really did have to report or else I would've been in trouble (apparently).
Lo and behold - my jury duty was scheduled the same day as Wavves!  So I made a day of it in the city.
I had anticipated being at the courthouse all day but I was luckily let go at lunch time so I rolled around Atlanta - stopping at Cameli's for pizza, killing time at UO (getting a wardrobe update for that night and good thing I did because it was hot!) and meeting up with Michael for some coffee talk



And then it came time to hang until showtime.  I settled in to the parking lot of Book House until they opened (getting my eyebrows wrangled next door) and once the doors opened, I planted myself at the bar and had a few dark and stormies.  Lauren was kind enough to meet me once she got off work and I entertained myself by talking to this guy who had his California driver's license on the bar.  I asked him where in Cali he was from and he told me that he was actually from Hawaii and we started talking about island living and all that fun stuff and I honestly had no idea it was the lead singer of FIDLAR that I was talking to.  WHAT



So - that was crazy.  FIDLAR was AMAZING.  So were the Cheatahs.  I wish I had more cash so I could've bought CDs from each but I spent most of my cash on booze and some Wavves goodies.

Wavves was INCREDIBLE.  The energy was so much better than last time, I have to admit.  Last time was awesome, don't get me wrong but this time was even more awesome because this happened



I was able to get way better photos than last time (despite having to crop out some guy's ridiculously large and obtrusive afro - which you can see here) and overall, it was just fucking awesome!!  I mean, we all know how much I LOVE Afraid of Heights and experiencing those songs live was pretty amazing.

I also ran into my most FAVE BLOGGER EVER - Matt T.  He let me know they were hitting up the Clermont - which you can read about here.  I kinda wish I had stayed but I was really exhausted since I got up so freakin early for jury duty...All in all, it was a great fucking night!  Thanks Wavves, FIDLAR and Cheatahs!  You guys were great!

Check out more Wavves photos here!

Fantasy Casting My Short Film

The other night, I was trying to keep myself entertained while I waited on some plans that ended up not happening.  No big deal because in that time, I came up with a wonderful idea:
What if I started dedicating Tumblr posts to try and convince Ryan Gosling to be the male lead in the horror short film I've just finished?!??  You can read them here, here, here, and here.

Why is this so important?  Why not?  He's taking an acting break and this wouldn't really be considered acting - it's a win-win for all.  I also think that the reality doc is great idea.

But why Ryan Gosling?  Why not some cute ATLien willing to be on camera for free booze (probably) and nothing to lose, really?  Because this one time I went to the ATL Film Festival and saw this pretty neat short starring one Josh Harnett.  Now I know what you're thinking: "Josh Harnett?  How totally 90's amirite?!!"  You're wrong!  I was such an anti-Josh Hartnett fan until I saw him in that short.  I don't really remember what it was about but he was in a car for most of it and there were messenger windows popping up all over the place (totes 90's-00's!).

EDITOR'S NOTE: The short was called Member (lol).

Anyways - After his appearance in Member, I was totally a fan!  Granted, he probably did it as a favor to a friend or it started out as a joke or something - either way, it was a pretty neat little short and I felt like it had given Josh Harnett some indie points.

Now, 12 years later, I'm convinced that actors still like doing those weird, one-off things - like short films.  Case in point: James Franco.  Remember when he was on General Hospital for a spell?  And as I'm trolling through his IMDb, I see he's got a lot of credits in short films.  Hmmm...makes me rethink my choice for male lead...

JUST KIDDING!!  Unless he's totally into it.  He probably would be!  He seems like a happy-go-lucky guy and open to anything!  Ryan Gosling, on the other hand, seems like maybe he'd have some reservations about certain projects - which I totally understand BUT it would still be nice if he would be in my film.  Actually, if I could make this short film relatively easily with the male lead of my dreams, I'd have two versions of the film - one with Ryan and one with James.  Dilemma solved.  Now, who wants to make my dreams come true?



It would be a good place for James Franco to declare his love for Ryan Gosling. *Sigh* I hope this dream comes true...

Wavves is BACK and better than ever

I was going to save this Wavves post until AFTER the show here in Atlanta next Monday but I can't wait any longer.

Afraid of Heights is AMAZING.

When Demon to Lean on was released, I was reblogging the crap out of it on Tumblr and I shared all his video posts of any and all performances of that track on Facebook.  When I heard about the pre-order, I signed up - a little too late - and I ended up missing out on the limited-to-500-pressing of the splatter vinyl of Afraid of Heights.  *Sigh* but I did get my t-shirt, a regular record, two CDs and 3 pins (which I lost almost immediately - ffffffff...)



I think I love this album so much because:

1-Nathan (and friends) paid for it themselves.  That's a pretty crazy feat in itself and you have to give major props for that - even if you aren't a fan of his music.

2-The lyrics, while they sometimes seem childish, have this underlying seriousness as if they were a not-so-serious-serious cry for help. Maybe not for Nathan specifically but maybe to you or me as the listener. I could be reading way to much into it (like I tend to do) but think about it next time you listen to a few tracks...And you have to admit, ladies, you'd like to be on the receiving end of one of his catchy loves songs, right?

3-Even though it was hard and we had Life Sux to calm our nerves for a bit, he took his time to make what he wanted and it was definitely worth the wait.  There's no denying that.  Afraid of Heights is wonderful and I suggest that you grab it (if you haven't already) and turn that shit up.

Why I Love Bloody Horror (NSFW)

I'm not your typical horror fan.  I hate zombie movies.  I'm sorry - I do.  If I'm given the choice, I won't watch a horror movie on my own.  My old man usually has to coax me into it.
As far as demonic possession goes, the REC movies started out okay.  The original Evil Dead was silly - but still well done.  28 Days Later was pretty good.  I can't stand the Paranormal Activity movies.  Insidious started out okay until the ghost busters showed up...I could keep going but I'll stop right here at Hostel and Hostel: Part II.
I love me some Eli Roth.  His blog is wonderful and my main source of inspiration for filmmaking, he's a great actor and he does great gore.  I mean, you can't go wrong with Eli Roth's Goretorium, right?!?

More gore under the cut!