Turtle

I finally got around to making a short video using a turtle model I made over the summer.

Turtle from Jesse Turnbull on Vimeo.

Way to go Will!

I am very proud of my big brother Will Turnbull tonight. He was featured on WGAL News in Lancaster County this evening for his efforts to raise money for restoring Speedwell Lake. Will has been selling chocolate covered pretzels he makes to raise $500 for the lake that was damaged during a flood two years ago. Speedwell is one of Will's favorite places to go, even since the lake has been drained due to a damaged dam. The Save Speedwell Organization thanked Will by planting a tree in his honor this morning. You can see the video on WGAL's website here.

Harryhausen

We lost a great yesterday with the passing of Ray Harryhausen. Ray's stop motion work influenced a whole generation of filmmakers and his onscreen magic is still very potent today. Here are a couple videos. The first is a collection of his scenes from classic science fiction and fantasy films.

The next is an interview with effects guru Phil Tippett talking with Harry Knowles about Harryhausen's influence on his work.  

If you are interested in Ray, The Art of Ray Harryhausen book is a great companion piece to his film work. It shows off his preproduction artwork as well as his beautiful models.

Working with distractions

I usually have music or podcasts going while I am working. Today as I was painting I watched this Simpson's writer's reunion on Conan's long form interview web show, Jibber-Jabber.
He has had some really interesting guests on in the past. I really enjoyed the Jack White interview.

I also listened to a Marc Maron WTF podcast replay interview with Johnathan Winters. Winters passed away recently; this was a great tribute to his storytelling and comedic talents.

8*Bit Devo Shirt

Here's a shirt I designed for the 8 Bit Devo tribute album. It is available for purchase over at the 8 Bit Operators site, look under merchandise.

Tanner Galvin's NOYS TOISE from Craig Mederios on Vimeo.

I came across this mini doc about a Portland circuit bender on Make Magazine's blog. Noystoise (Craig Mederios) makes the most beautiful cobbled-together instruments I've ever seen. He also has a great blog showing some of his process and the final instruments in action.

I'm still here...

I've been working on a couple private commissions lately that I can't really share images of, thus the lack of posts. I need to wrap up a couple more things this week, but hopefully I'll be back to working on M'aidez again soon. My wife and I are expecting our first child this summer, so I have a bit of a deadline now to try to get the short wrapped up. We plan on taking a couple months off after the little guy is born to get use to the new family experience ahead of us .

Here is something amazing to look at.

 I came across this book Automaton by Paolo Ventura over the summer when we were in Paris. I was floored by its beauty. Paolo immerses you into his world. The details kept me staring at the same image for long stretches of time. The story is simple, but very striking. Here is a video of him reading the text along with all of the images in the book.
I am still not sure exactly what his process is. I know he constructs his background, but I'm not sure if the dolls and clothing he uses are scratch built or modified from existing models. In any case the photos are beautiful.

Movie Trailers!

Here are two movies coming up in 2013 that I am dying to see.
The first is a no-brainer. Guillermo del Toro's latest movie features giant kaiju monsters fighting giant robot mechs. Throw in Idris Elba, Charlie Day and Ron Perlman... what more could you ask for? Pacific Rim looks like it will be non-stop action and fun with some sincere heart thrown in knowing Del Toro's work.

Next is a much smaller movie called Upstream Color by Shane Carruth. This one looks like you'll need to bring your thinking cap along with you to the theater. Carruth has only release one other feature previously, a movie call Primer. Primer is one of my favorite movies. I've watched it many times and always think I have a handle on it, but I know I don't. It might be the best time travel movie of all time. It's scope is so big, but really its a very small film. Reported made for only $7000, it took the Grand Jury Prize at Sundance in 2004. So here is his new one, and it doesn't look like he's going to take it any easier on the viewers.

Animatronic hand

Here is a hand I made for some close up shots. I used this wonderful tutorial as a starting point, modifying for size mostly. Forgive the sloppiness here, it is now covered with white fabric.

Come out and plaaaaayayaya...

A poster I did a while ago based on the movie The Warriors got featured today on joblo.com. Joblo is a movie news site that I frequent. They recently started doing a column of movie related artwork. If you haven't seen the 1979 movie The Warriors, do yourself a favor and seek it out. It is a dark but fun movie about rival gangs in New York during the city's grittiest era.

San Jose International Short Film Festival 2012

The San Jose International Short Film Festival 2012 was held this weekend and my short M'aidez was shown there! I should have posted this befroe the showing but I wasn't sure of the date and time it would be screened. Thank you SJSFF for the invite, I hope things went smoothly. 

Also featured at the fest was the short "The Maker" by Zealous Creative, a studio out of Australia. I saw this a couple weeks back online and really enjoyed it. 

Arrowhead: Signal

I came across this short film from Australia recently and really enjoyed it. Jesse O'Brien and crew created it on a shoestring budget and they are seeking financing to create a full length feature. The film cleverly mixes selective cg elements in with a great costume and carefully cobbled together set pieces.  It's about ten minutes, but worth the time investment.


Arrowhead: Signal from Jesse O'Brien on Vimeo.

Talking to yourself

Here is the conversation a lot of us (me included) wish we could have with our former selves. Brilliant video. This took a lot of foresight for a twelve year old.

Ain't It Cool News

Mike, aka Muldoon, over at Ain't It Cool News runs a weekly Saturday short film post. I submitted my short, M'aidez a few weeks back and kind of forgot about it. I was bowled over yesterday when I was perusing this weeks selections to see my name and video posted. This is a big deal for me. I have been a very dedicated follower of Ain't It Cool since about 1999 and rarely go a day without checking in on what's new. Yes, I'm kind throwing all of my geek cards out on the table. I really appreciate the post and kind words from Mike. The post has been a big boost in getting people to check it out. Click the image below to see the page and check out the other animation shorts posted along side mine.

Are We Not Men?

I might be working on some cover art for a Devo tribute album coming up. I've been doing some research lately, revisiting and discovering old music videos. Deanna and I fell in love with the album "Q: Are We Not Men?, A: We Are Devo" when we were driving down the California coast for our honeymoon. So I'm really looking forward to working on some Devo inspired artwork. Here is a video for the original version of Jocko Homo. It's a bit more raw than the album version which is a nice variation. ENJOY!

Danny Boyle's Frankenstein

Tonight we went to see Danny Boyle's stage version of Frankenstein being screened at a movie theater. It did lack a little of the impact you know would have been present seeing it live, but the production was really impressive. The two main actors, Johnny Lee Miller and Benedict Cumberbatch, would trade roles each night. So one would play Victor Frankenstein and one would play The Monster, then switch for the next performance. In the showing we went to Johnny Lee Miller played The Monster. His take was really intriging. The character throws the viewer back and forth over and over again; feeling deep sympathy for him followed back deep disgust. He said he based a lot of the physical performance on his 2 year old daughter. There is a wonderful progression with him, learning to walk, run, and talk. You can certainly see the child show through, as well as touches of stroke victims, and Autistic mannerisms. I was affected to be sure. I am a great fan of all things Frankenstein and this was a great addition to the mythos. I hope they release this on DVD at some point. We have become followers of Benedict Cumberbatch after watching the new Sherlock series on BBC. He was very respectable as the doctor, but that character doesn't quite get the same chance to shine. I would love to see his take on The Monster to compare and contrast the actors. Here is a trailer for the play-

Short Film M'aidez

 I recommend watching this in HD, fullscreen, with headphones on 

Complete!!! I have finally finished my short. I have spent so much time with this that its going to feel odd not staring at that figure for a little while. I am pretty pleased with the final product. It is not the longer form narrative that I originally intended, but maybe I will come back to that someday. I wish I could give some estimate of hours spent, but I can tell you it was a lot. The figure, the suit, the backpack, the electronics, the sculpting and painting; and then of course the shooting all took a good chunk of time to complete. I have been working on these types of figures for about eight or nine years and its really satisfying to seem one brought to life a little bit. I am hoping to continue stop motion work in the future. Who knows what little short is next. I'll leave it at that. Thank you for watching!

After Effects

I have been slaving away relearning After Effects. I haven't really worked on a project with it since about 2003, so the program's a little different. I am amazed by the fluidity of it. I have certainly come up against walls, but its usually "where do I find this menu", or "what do they refer to this as." All and all it has been a lot of fun to jump back into. Don't worry, nothing will look like this...

Deanna and I went to the BMA this weekend to check out the Baltimore Contemporary Print Fair. We saw a few things we really liked, but were most taken by the art of South African artist Diane Victor. Diane draws using the smoke from candles; producing an extremely delicate look. Some of her series have dealt with AIDs patients and missing children. The medium mirrors her subject matter in a most beautiful way. Once the carbon from the candle smoke hits the paper it sticks, but it takes nothing more can a light paintbrush stroke or graze of a finger to wipe it off. She says she has yet to find a way to successfully fix the smoke. An attempt to use spray fix has totally destroyed the piece. Click any of the photos below to see a video of her process. Its amazing how much of her personality comes through in this short piece.

  

 

 

Vacuforming

Just when you think you can't love Jim Henson anymore than you do...

Here is a short film that Henson made for AT&T in 1963. His pacing and rhythm is just astonishing.

We miss you Jim-

Originally seen on FilmDrunk