Twitter stats

Just started on twitter. yes I know, yet another way to waste time. But you can come across some interesting data. Like almost as many people follow the Onion as NY times! I wonder if they are the same people as well?

PUNKS NOT DAD - IN ME SHED - FEATURING LISA ROGERS - NEW SINGLE - RELEASE DATE 6th JULY 2009

great video with some classic punkers and stop motion. really good show!

Message From Space (1978)

It was the winter of 1978. Many new movies were being promoted and we were all excited to see them. It seemed like a golden age for science fiction. The year before brought us Star Wars

( I refuse to call it episode 4, a new hope as it was simply Star Wars when I saw it), and coming soon to the theater would be Battlestar Galactica, The boys from Brazil, Dawn of the dead, Invasion of the body snatchers, Superman, Attack of the killer tomatoes and this wonderful gem, Message from Space. And yes I was 12 and saw all of these in the theater. I don't think people cared as much back then or were just ambivalent to the ratings system.

I can't remember the exact date that I convinced my older brother to take me to see this but I am pretty sure it was very early in the year. I suspect the distributers wanted to be ahead of the pack in the hopes of getting a few dollars.

It was a wet night, our car ran out of gas and My brother had to walk to a gas station to get a bucket of gas. We didn't have a funnel so we used a newspaper... We get to the theater 10 minutes late and missed the best part of the experience, the trailers. It is probably the worst film I have ever had the pleasure of seeing on the big screen but I still want a copy of it. If you look closely at the images below you will get an idea of the experience. It is considered to be the most blatant rip off of Star Wars ever but has some unique elements as well like rocket propelled sailing ships.

It has a white clad princess, a super fortress flyby at the start, rogue pilots that act, well, roguish, plucky little robots and a climatic battle where we fly through a tunnel and blow up a planet, all the while having the proto-visual style of later productions from japan like Power Rangers. It also starred Sonny Chiba of all people.

I have a feeling I might have a little more appreciation for it this time around.

Image of the week

When did this get ignored. Was it when the first word program came out with spell check or was it the internet. I like the hat.

Fun with Fallout 3

Testing the awesome might of the FATBOY weapon.

Oh how I love a post apocalyptic world where water is more precious than life! I hope that when we get there we have wepons like this. It will make the doldrums go away and cook your meat for you at the same time

Edit lesson

A quick lesson in what a match cut is and its use in animation.

In a 'matched cut' a familiar relationship between the shots may make the change seem smooth. What does this mean? Well a few simple rules should be known that allows for a proper match cut:

1. Continuity of direction. As always a cut should happen during an action or movement to help it feel natural. This allows the edit to become invisible if done correctly. As a person turns towards the car we cut to a long shot of them completing the turn. The viewer does not see the edit unless the cut is placed in an awkward point in time. For instance if the position of the person in the second shot does not correspond in space to the position they were in for the previous shot.

2. A similar center of attention within the frame. In its simplest meaning you can't have a match cut from one person to another as they are not similar in context to the frame.

3. A singe step change in shot size. From a long shot to a medium shot. You can have a match cut happen between a long and an extreme close-up but only if the previous two points are taken into consideration.

4.A change of angle, typically 30 degrees or more. You have to be careful here as well as having too extreme of an angle change will most likely mean crossing the axis. That would create a jump cut.

The term match cut gets overused in animation to mean a simple hookup of action. Not truly a match cut.

In search of

I have been working away on a new editing exercise. I am calling this one "food for America". At least it is a working title.

I go to archive.org for all my footage but am always on the lookout for new sources of open source footage. Does anyone have any links they may have found?

For this latest project I am trying to hunt down footage of farm animals and the process of turning said animals into edible products. As well as shots of chemical companies doing their thing.

Yes it has a bit of a political bent to it but it will be fun to watch too!

Old images

I have a box of old negatives that were found in the house that I grew up in. We think the pictures were taken sometime around the 1870's. The two below are of the house and the three sisters that lived in it.

My scanner doesn't want to take decent images of negative glass plates so my kids and I did up a quick light table. The first image didn't work so well but looks creepy. I will keep trying.

word a day#20

I think this will be the last one for a bit. Tomorrow is Beltane and I don't want to screw with Pagan Gods

Here goes:

end |end|noun1 a final part of something, esp. a period of time, an activity, or a story : the end of the year |Mario led the race from beginning to end.• a termination of a state or situation : the party called for an end to violence | one notice will be effective to bring the tenancy to an end.• used to emphasize that something, typically a subject of discussion, is considered finished : you will go to church and that's the end of it.• death or ruin : if she’s caught stealing again, it will be the end of her career.• archaic (in biblical use) an ultimate state or condition : the end of that man is peace.2 the furthest or most extreme part or point of something : a length of wire with a hook at the end | [as adj. ] the end house.• a small piece that is left after something has been used : a box of candle ends.• a specified extreme point on a scale : homebuyers at the lower end of the market.• the part or share of an activity with which someone is concerned : you're going to honor your end of the deal.• a place that is linked to another by a telephone call, letter, or journey : “Hello,” said avoice at the other end.• the part of an athletic field or court defended by one team or player.3 a goal or result that one seeks to achieve : each would use the other to further his own ends |to this end, schools were set up for peasant women.4 Lawn Bowling & Curling a session of play in one particular direction across the playing area.5 Football an offensive or defensive lineman positioned nearest to the sideline.verbcome or bring to a final point; finish : [ intrans. ] when the war ended, policy changed | the chapterends with a case study | [ trans. ] she wanted to end the relationship.• [ intrans. ] reach a point and go no further : the boundary where agnosticism ends and atheism begins.• [ intrans. ] perform a final act : the man ended by attacking a police officer.• [ intrans. ] ( end in) have as its final part, point, or result : one in three marriages is now likely to end in divorce.• [ intrans. ] ( end up) eventually reach or come to a specified place, state, or course of action : I ended up in Connecticut | you could end up with a higher income.

word a day#19

vacuous |ˈvakyəwəs|adjectivehaving or showing a lack of thought or intelligence; mindless : a vacuous smile | vacuous slogans.• archaic empty.DERIVATIVESvacuity |vaˈkyoōətē; və-| |vøˈkjuədi| |vəˈkjuədi| |vəˈkjuːɪti| nounvacuously |ˈvøkjəwəsli| adverbvacuousness |ˈvøkjəwəsnəs| nounORIGIN mid 17th cent. (in the sense [empty of matter] ): from Latin vacuus ‘empty’ + -ous .