Overdue Update

I know it's been a while since I posted anything.

Situations have come up. Production's been slowed.
We may have to push the release date back to 2016.

Still I'm hoping...

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- UPDATED -
We're Back in the Saddle!

Things are back to normal. In fact things are better than ever.
Expect some major updates soon.

THE PATIENT

MY COMPUTER IS SICK :(

I'm writing this from a netbook at work because my computer has died.

Well not quite. Not yet anyway, but doctors say it doesn't look good.

The diagnosis is that it needs a motherboard transplant.
We're on the waiting list.

Please pray for my computer.

Until it's fixed, I won't be able to give you any cool amazing stuff.
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*EDIT*

Ok so I finally got my computer to a specialist.
They're working on it right now.

Cross your fingers everyone.

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*EDIT*

HOORAY! =D

My computer lives!

2 weeks (and almost $200 later), the old GIB-2000 is up and running.
I'm Back in Business!

Now it's time to get booking because as they say: "The Show Must Go On"

Stay TOONED!

THE SETTING

Brookshire Island

I wanted to give you guys a tour of Brookshire Island.
The main setting for the movie (most of it).

I've created a computer generated model for us to travel through, to see how things work. 

NOTE: this was created for reference in the creative process. It is not meant to be of superior quality or detail. There are a great many instances of forestry, geology, and other natural surroundings that will not be visible. 

This is Brookshire. It's not actually an island - at least not most of it - but as you can see it jets out into the river, creating a lagoon and bar upon which the village is built.

These are the docks.
Yeah ok, I guess you could tell that already. But you know what you probably didn't know smarty pants?
The docks are where the "BOATS COME IN" MIND = BLOWN!
One of the things Brookshire thrives on is it's fishing industry.

The hills to the South (I guess, who know's which was is north or south or what-not), with some limestone cliffs in the background.
The point jutting out there is "Spring Ridge".
An underground spring funnels water up to the overhang lite where it feeds into a light flowing waterfall.
Bountiful "Spring Fruit" grow throughout the woods leading up to the falls.  

I've just got to do a musical number there.

The main village is composed of several small huts.
This is not an exceedingly wealthy village but the surrounding area is paradise.

Behind the village is the market.
It's hard to see here with all the white but this is the general idea of what it will look like.

You can imagine the setting.

There is a small brook that separates the island. into two main areas.
A stone bridge connects the gap between the village...

... and the clergy. This building is the major icon of the movie, for the most part.
The "Saint Altos Abby" is probably the oldest building on the island.
It houses a Monastery, a Convent, and an Orphanage.
We do have some color images of it.

Stay TOONED!

THE MUSIC

Animated Musicals

OK so here’s the thing:

When I watch most official Musicals, whether a Movie or a Broadway Play, I generally find there is an emphasis on the word MUSIC.

Well DUH!

No what I mean is there is about 80% effort placed on the music and only about 20% on the story. As a result there is a lot of show to sit through but the story suffers. The resolution in the end usually comes down to something like:

“We just sung a big song and dance number, now I think I’ve figured out how to solve our dispute.” The end.

Not much depth as far as the plot goes, very little character development, and rarely any  intricacies, action scenes, romance, mystery, or final confrontations. The work simply serves as an excuse to sing songs.

Now if that’s what you like that’s fine. There’s nothing wrong with sitting down to a night of singing.

But if that’s the case then what’s the point of even having a story?

Ever heard of a piece called “Songs for a New World?” 

If the fictional part is going to take a back seat, you might as well just watch a concert. Am I right?

BUT IN AN ANIMATED FILM…

… there isn’t enough time for that.

You see there’s this sick notion in the film industry: “ANIMATION = SHORT”.

Trivia Fact: "Dumbo is the shortest Disney Feature of all time."

This is something that has always annoyed me as someone who sees animation as just as legitimate a form of art as anything else. Why is it that an animated movie always has to be shorter than a live action?

“…because kids have shorter attention spans, GIB, they HAVE to be shorter…”

OK, first of all, don’t get me started on the legitimacy of cartoons and who they should be marketed to. But regardless; in an age where nearly ALL movies are blooming to 2 ½ to 3 hours long, can we not at least have a full length animated movie?

Seriously.

HOWEVER!

In the case of a musical this is sort of a good thing.

Because an animated musical is the length it is, it is not 4 hours long with a 10 minute overture that makes you wanna pull your hair out and an intermission that is ironically too short to get a snack. It is an hour and a 30, maybe 45 minutes. The producers don’t have time to include 16 songs about everything under the cardboard sun hanging overhead. They must prioritize.

The average animated feature film has classically had about 4 to 6 songs within the time frame and all are generally a slight bit shorter than your average radio track, so the emphasis is placed roughly 50/50, on the music vs. the story. 

Maybe 60/40 depending upon how many songs there are.

What’s more is that the songs are written so as to move the plot along. 

You’ll almost never see a song like this…

F.Y.I. - Contrary to what the title sounds like,

"White Christmas" has nothing to do with snow.

When your time is crunched you don’t have time to simply sit and sing about some random idea: The concept of snow, A pair of dancing shoes, why there will never be a musical staring Justin Bieber. Every song has to be an important part of the script. 

Good musicals do this in several ways.

- They exist as rhythmic extensions of dialogue.

- They introduce characters and plot devices quickly.

- They serve to teach personal lessons or help a character feel a certain way.

- Montague scenes can move time along for a sequence of events.
- The're funny. (This one doesn't really save time but it makes the time more enjoyable.)

The best type of animated song is one that can serve several purposes. For instance:

Opens the movie, introduces a main character, a village, the villain and his minion, explains Bells disposition in the village, and gives a feel for the French countryside, all in one. 
It can’t be boring because no one character holds a line for more than about 8 seconds. The visuals are everywhere and the song has at least 4 sections of melody. 
It also has hilarious parts sung by Gaston and the Bimbettes, and wonderful melodic choreography among the townspeople. 
AND it sets the stage for the movie’s sound track with 2 unforgettable themes that repeat throughout the movie.

NOW THAT IS HOW YOU MULTI-TASK.

I would give the song: “Bell” from Beauty and the Beast, the award for greatest animated musical piece. 
Of course you may disagree.

What are YOUR favorite Animated Songs?

Stay TOONED!

THE STICKERSONS

MEET THE STICKERSONS

Hey everybody, It's been a while since I last posted; 

and for good reason.

This is what I've been working on.

Meet Rod Stickerson and his sister Linn; 

These two have offered to help me illustrate the concept of the "Interactive Graphic Novel"

This will give you a perfect example of what to expect when the Alrazan Project is finished

Animated Comic-Strip Trial Run - Test 1

I plan on doing some more strips, with these two, every now and then.

Stay TOONED!

Happy Fathers Day

Gonna take a quick break from the blogging to say:

Happy Fathers Day!

THE TRAILER: (For real this time)

FINALLY!

It's here! 

It took almost 2 weeks to make Flash export right and get QuickTime to properly load on my computer but it's here: The First Teaser Trailer. 

My musician is in the process of moving and isn't quite ready so I had to throw some music together on my own. It's nothing super special, but I wanted to get something out as early as possible.

ENJOY!

 Altrazan - The Movie Novel Project - "Teaser Trailer"

Stay TOONED!

THE PATH

Day 11 of having to stall until the trailer comes out.

People ask me all the time: “How did you develop your cartooning style for anthropomorphs?”

Actually that's a lie. People don't ask me that. No one's ever asked me that. HEY wait a minute why aren't you asking me that!?

OK, so IN MY HEAD, people ask me that, and here is the answer.

First of all, I've been a life long Disney fan for, well... my life.

I idolize Walt Disney, I'm fascinated by Ub Iwerks, and Glenn Kean? The most genius man on the planet.

These eyes... how does one fit so much life into a single pair of eyes?

It's like they're “More Real Than Real”.

(cuz that totally makes sense right?)

But, of course the story of Disney doesn't start with “The Little Mermaid”. It goes much farther back, and for me, ranges much later, so without much ado about nothing, here is where our story begins.

THE REAL EPIC OF MICKEY!

No not this.

THIS!

Ahem... chapter one:

IN THE BEGINING...

There was a blank piece of paper.

Then Milton-Bradley patented the "Zoetrope” and public animation was born.

Authors note: We can argue until Jackie Chan learns to speak English over who actually invented or first did animation. I don't care. That's not the point. I'm starting with Milton-Bradley, so there. *sticks tongue out*

The zeoptrope was a device that by spinning would allow a series of pictures to blend in the mind like the blades of a fan, and thus create a moving image. It was patented by Milton-Bradley in 1832 and became a bit of a fad, helping to launch a western interest in animation. It also laid down the foundational principals for the next part of the story

1877

Photography is somewhat knew on the scene. Edoward Muybridge finds himself in a pickle over how to solve a dispute: does a horse takes all four legs off the ground in a gallop? Or always keep one or two on the ground at one time. Totally an important debate right?

Everyone knows a horse keeps ALL it's feet on the ground at ALL times, DUH!

Muybridge sets up a series of cameras in line and times them to snap at different instances. He then has a horse & rider gallop by, and snaps the cameras as they go. The result? A perfect documentation of the pattern of a horses legs.

(See? I told you it was electromagnetism.)

He later discovered that these images could be projected by a reel, You could show these at parties not just as a bunch of pictures but as a live presentation on film. “Hey I know, that's just what we'll call it: A FILM”

Stop motion,

The motion picture,

The rest is history.

1919

So Otto Messmer arrives on the scene. Who you say? You've never heard of Otto Messmer?!

HERESY I SAY!

Ok, so how about THIS guy, you recognize HIM?

Sorry, Felix; they didn't recognize you without your clothes. I mean bag of tricks.

It's Felix the Cat! As in practically the FIRST real animated pop culture character?
OK I'll make it simple for you.

THIS GUY

Idolized THIS GUY

Moving on...

1927

Young Walter Disney falls in love with animation and follows in the footsteps of his hero Messmer, creating "Oswald the Lucky Rabbit"

What? I thought it was a mouse! I thought his name was...

NOPE It's all wrong. Everything you know is A LIE! BWAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!Oh, Ahem, sorry about that.

1928

Walt is working for “Warner Brothers at the time.” The big shot executives, say to themselves.

“Hmmm, a cartoon rabbit here at Warner Bros.? Nah! Would never make it.

"Oh and hey Walt we're gonna have to dock your pay.”

With that Disney says: "Heck With You" and leaves the WB behind and, due to contract agreements, Oswald too. He decides to start his own company and now has to create a new character. He thinks of a cat at first but doesn't want to compete with his hero.

Instead he creates...

MORTIMER mou... WAIT WHAT?! I thought His name was Mic...

1928

Mortimer Mouse" that's the name of Disney's new character... I'm sure we can all thank Walt's Wife Lilian for coming up with the name "Mickey".

DISNEY Trivia: Mickey's Debut was NOT "Steam Boat Willie". It was another film called "Plane Crazy"

1991

60 years into the future.
Naoto Oshima designs "Sonic the Hedgehog" he bases his design after Mickey Mouse,

That's right, Sonic is based off Mickey. Want proof? Ok here goes.

HEIGHT

EYES

 NOSE

MOUTH

LIMBS & TORSO

GLOVES

UNFORGETABLE ICONIC STYLIZING OF THE ANIMALS ANATOMY

So just to recap:

Felix inspired Mickey. Mickey Inspired Sonic.

It's like they're all brothers.

 

1998

Sega releases the DREAMCAST. Anyone remember this?



Well I think all 4 people who bought one will.

The "Sonic Adventure" series starts. Sonic gets a makeover Hedgehog edition. Slimmer, sleeker, spinier... blu-er. He hates Amy, loves chili-dogs, and makes more smart Alec remarks than even THIS blog can handle. As a result, a large number of “Sonic Fan Characters” now have shown up on deviant art every day for the last 10 years, shamelessly copying the style 100% FLAWLESSLY. Just how many in all?

IT”S OVER 9000!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2008

After playing around with anthropomorph styles for years, I Taylor (G.I.B.) Gibson am inspired by the body structure of the Sonic anthros. I borrow certain traits while developing many of my own. And VUALA! My style is set; and looking good if I do say so my self......

...2011. I realize that the sonic style I borrowed from was borrowed from the style of my very hero Walt Disney.

WOW.