9.22.2010

A few more notes from Charles

I just wanted to post a few screenshots of the scenes I have been working up. SO now we havce 20 scenes of 54 in some kind of production. But don't let that number fool you. After scene 39 its all repeats. Here's a few samples.

The happpy hand gets it's first incarnation. He's supposed to be a little bristly, cute, and industrial. I think his eyes are a little bit stale right now. In the animation you can see it. He's not all there. That'll need a little work.

Scene 15 gets a nice updated background with a near final color. I left Barnaby in this comp so you can see his boom technique. Thats actually my couch. Those awesome 50's housewives are dressed in vintage outfits courtesty of Debra Silveus. In fact all my couches are used in this movie.

Melissa Bickel and Scene 42 gets its first pass. I reworked the look of this considerably after a lookthru adding some camera movement and setting the horizon a little differently. The students seem a little close in this one, but this is where it started.


I've been working a heck of lot on scene 2. Its an early scene and lays a lot of the foundation for the movie down. Thats David Charles, Abigail Wright, and Tim Stroud chillin there. The background is inspired by a seafood place we ate at in boston. It was that color throughout, Ceilings and walls. I originally had more pink in the foreground but after a second look went more neutral. I can also give it back later, but I'm trying not to paint myself into any corners.

And update on our storage issues. Our G-Raid Drives been running great. Just killing it. So fingers crossed. I think we're out of all that hassle.

-Charles


9.14.2010

The American - The SSL Review

All SSL reviews have 2 parts.
1) General Review - my general take on the movie as a movie
2) SSL Review - my discussion of its depiction of female sexual functioning [this is what makes it an SSL Review]

However, this one has an added review - 3) The Theater Atmosphere Review- cause it was odd.

Theater Atmosphere Review
Charlie and I went to see The American starring George Clooney recently. We were out looking for to see a movie during the day, and that movie was playing at the right time, so we went. I knew nothing about it. I don't think I even saw a poster for it ever. The theater we were at is usually not busy at all and certainly not at 2pm on a Friday. We thought that, like many times before, we would be the only people in the theater. However, when we walked in there were about 20 people  - all over 65. I'm still not sure why. They didn't come together. I guess old people are attracted to George Clooney movies. That's my guess. Anyway, it was kinda surreal - like I was in a Seinfeld episode or something. For instance, there was some Euro-style sex scenes and random female nudity/sexualizing in this movie, and don't you know that some of these people felt they needed to pipe-up up about it - every time it happened. That was kinda funny, but it also made me feel all nervous and embarrassed like when something accidentally steamy came up in a movie you were watching with your parents when you were 11. Then there were the talkers and the question askers. A few kept asking the person next to them loud ridiculous questions about the movie, and then others grumbled - ever more loudly at the talkers. Then at one point someone asked their neighbor about something, and someone a few rows up loudly shushed them, and then the talker angrily shushed him back. It was stupid and hilarious.

General Review
So, I have to say, I enjoyed the experience more than the movie.  It was just so unoriginal; the characters, the storyline, the style. Plus, the ending is lame-o. In fact, I almost laughed out loud at one point. But..I can't bring myself to be too harsh.

9.09.2010

Stuff I've learned Part II (Bundling, Periods, and Sex and the City)

So last post I talked about 2 of 5 random things I learned about while researching Science Sex and the Ladies.  Here I'll finish up with the last three. Enjoy.

3. bundling
 What is bundling you say? Ha. Of course you didn't say that. Everyone knows it is a pre-marital courting custom of early America, brought here by the Puritans. Okay no one knows that, but it was a pretty juicy topic back in the day. I found a book called History of Bundling by Henry Reed Stiles randomly at Half Priced Books. When it was originally published somewhere around 1871, this book was banned in Boston - quite controversial.
The author made the argument that bundling is not a lewd, low class act, but an upstanding courting ritual that grew out of necessity and happened in many cultures throughout history and across cultures. So what is it? It's when a man and a woman - particularly a romantic unmarried couple - sleep in a bed together with their clothes on. Obviously, you can see how people would talk. But, he says, it's actually quite innocent. A man often must call on a woman in the cold of winter after a day of work. For him to walk or ride back in the night would be silly and unsafe. The house is cold, and it is important for the couple to get to know each other, so her parents would bundle them up, fully clothed in the bed, and they would talk and sleep. Simple as that. He made a good argument. I see no reason not to bundle up my own future teenager with his or her potential spouse - except clothes are a lot easier to get off these day...and houses are heated now...and of course cars are now available to get us pretty far safely at night...but back in the day, I definitely would have entertained the notion.