Webcomic: Unicorn

Posted by sean

I love reading webcomics. Some of the most beautiful art I’ve run into on the internet has been in this incredible medium. I’m no artist. I consider myself more of a doodleist, with enough basic drawing skills to get me through the creative process of film making, but hardly enough to create anything of beauty or interest in and of itself.

Lately I’ve felt the webcomic bug blighting hard. Webcomics like Dharbin and Hark, a Vagrant have been such inspiration for me. I’m really wanting to learn how to tell stories with sequential art, and I’m going to start now. Here’s my first attempt, hastily drawn, and hastily scanned. My goal is to get one of these done a week. We’ll see if I can improve. From here on out I’ll only post what seems worthy. This first one doesn’t count.

The Toy Camera Insanity Continues . . .

Posted by sean

Photo 149

This summer I got hooked. I found some websites, read some articles, looked at some jpegs and fell in love. Over the summer my collection has grown from one plastic 35mm camera to seven cameras of various sizes, shapes, and film types. I’ve shot more rolls of film than I ever have before and created some really exciting images.

I’m still new at this, but I’ve already taken some grief from my photography friends. They think my toy photography is either dumb or pretentious or both. I just think its fun. I guess I don’t take the actual photographic process very seriously, just what comes out of that process. For me it’s not a job or a competition, it’s a game and an adventure. I never know what I’m going to get.

But this isn’t completely true. I feel that regardless of the lo-fi nature of my cameras, I have grown in my photographic art. By shooting with no options in regards to lens choice, depth of field, or zoom, I’ve been forced to focus on the subject matter of my shots. I’ve learned about the importance of human interest and the placement of subjects in the frame. I’ve also had the opportunity to create some very distorted and crazy images. And it’s been a blast!

Here are some of my favorite Toy Camera shots from this summer.

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Lo-Fi For Fun and Profit!

Posted by sean

So, my nice Kodak Easy Share digital camera was broken in a freak body-surfing accident two weeks ago. I really didn’t have the money to replace it, and I thought I was going to be camera-less for a few months, until I remembered a little digital camera I bought at target a few years back. It cost me twenty dollars and was about the size of a matchbox. A really fun little toy. I had had a blast with it before I bought my now defunct Kodak. Here’s a pic I took with it back in the day:

So, I went to Wal-Mart this week and bought a similar little camera for only ten dollars that actually produces a better quality image, and has an LCD screen to boot! It’s basically a camera phone without the phone.

One of the things I love about lo-fi cameras is the character they add to a captured image. When people shot on Super8 film and later Beta and VHS, they created images that weren’t necessarily as true to life as the high-end digital mediums we have now, but the images they created have such “character” that their looks have become iconic and timeless. Lo-fi digital cameras have a similar effect. They place an image in an unmistakable time and place, but they also simplify the subject matter of the image to a pixelated point that turns that subject into something universal and timeless. In a sense, snapping a little 3 megapixel image on my new “Suprema” can be more artistic than a high-def SLR shot. Obviously, it all depends on what you want, but right now, I’m cool with my little lo-fi pictures. Like this new self-portrait. Oh yeah! : )

First Attempt

Posted by sean

I was so inspired by reading the Rice Boy graphic novel a few weeks ago that decided to try my hand at the same process Rice Boy’s creator uses. This is what I came up with. I drew it out in pen, scanned it into my computer and colored it in Photoshop. Pretty cool! Can’t wait to try some more pictures! Maybe a short story? Stay tuned!

Click here for a larger version.

Bexhill-On-Sea

Posted by sean

Phillip Bloom is one of my heroes. He’s a digital cinematographer who uses high-end HD camcorders with 35mm lens adapters to decrease the depth of field, achieving a more selective focus, film look. I really like his work, not only his image quality but his editing and use of music to evoke mood. His favorite subject is everyday people, whom he shoots going about their everyday lives in slow motion, showing us their true humanity and character. His website is packed with great videos, but he’s just done it again with Bexhill-On-Sea, a moody picture of a beach side resort, it’s landscapes and inhabitants. Click here to watch it.

Rice Boy

Posted by sean

I recently stumbled upon a web graphic novel called Rice Boy, and was pleasantly surprised by a beautiful and exciting read. Evan Dahm, the comic’s creator, is a solid artist with a strong sense of narrative and a crazy imagination.

The comic is about the troubled land of Overside, a land filled with a multitude of strange races and wonderful locations, and a little bulbous-headed, armless being named Rice Boy who may just be the prophesied one. This little guy goes on a long and arduous journey in an attempt to save his world and bring peace to warring factions.

All the characters are unique and wonderfully drawn. I particular like T.O.E. (The One Electronic), an ancient robot-man who has been seeking the prophesied one for thousands of years. He’s a lot like a Gandalf. only weaker and with a more contemporary voice.

On his website, Dahm has this to say about his creation:

The kind of narrative feeling I’m trying to stick to for this comic is most of what I’m trying to get down properly in the thumbnails: storytelling that seems leisurely even though it reads very quickly; brief animatic sequences and big, self-indulgent scenic panels that don’t do much but let me develop settings and moods. All in all, a ridiculously inefficient way to tell a story.

And yet a very good story! The leisurely pacing reads well and gives the novel its epic and exhaustive world-building quality. I highly recommend this comic to anyone who enjoys comics or is wondering why others do.

You can read the entirety of Rice Boy on www.rice-boy.com, as well as the beginning of it’s prequel, The Order of Tales.

Camera-Man!

Posted by sean

Just made this little guy for a digital imaging class I’m taking. He’s made out of pieces of a digital photo of a pile of old cameras.

News From Lake Wobegon

Posted by sean

Garrison Keillor is an incredible story teller, and after 19 years of telling stories about his fictional hometown of Lake Wobegone he’s still going strong. This particular tale from October 27, 2007 is a great example of his ability to, through simple everyday narrative style, tell a story so visual that you feel like you’re there. You can actually see the girls volleyball game going on in front of you and feel all the energy of the moment. The man is incredibly talented!

Check out the podcast of this particular “tale” here

The Ills of Popular Cinema or, “Franchise Killed the Originality Star”

Posted by sean

I’ve been reading about “The Hobbit” film adaptation. Apparently, Tolkien’s son doesn’t want to see it made, and is pressing fraud charges against New Line Cinema. Guillermo Del Toro, the much touted director of the film, is making all sorts of ruckus in the media about which actors he will cast to play the parts and what crazy plans he has for creature effects. Meanwhile, fans everywhere bite their nails and worry that the film might not turn out right, or, worse, might never be made.

I’m a huge fan of Tolkien’s books and I loved Peter Jackson’s trilogy — with reservations of course. Regardless of how much liberty he took with Tolkien’s story, Jackson’s films were brilliant works of popular art that never reached too high or stooped to low. Together, these films were by far the most excellent entertainment in decades, but, to be honest, as much as I loved Jackson’s trilogy, I’m not that excited about “The Hobbit.” Del Toro has proven that he can make both brilliant works of cinematic art and jaw dropping failures. Pan’s Labyrinth is a great film. Hellboy 2? Not so much. I’ve got a feeling that “Hobbit” will be somewhere in the middle. What makes me sick is this mentality we filmgoers have developed. We seem to revolve our lives around the release of films like “The Hobbit” and in the process we limit the art of Cinema to a live-action landscape for our favorite books, comics, and video games to be played out in.

Because of this rabid fandom mentality, adaptations of popular books and comic characters are making the most money. Subsequently, these movies get the most hype, and overall, the most screen time per year. The escalation of these kinds of films is ruining the way in which we watch movies. No longer do we say: “Star Wars? What’s that about?” Instead it’s “I loved that as a kid! I wonder which villain they’ll use” In a sense, the franchise has ruined the joy of original cinema.

I like what the Inventor in Johnson’s “Rasselas” says: “Nothing will ever be attempted, if all possible objections must be first overcome.” Sure, telling a brand new story, one with no tie-in to a kids books or a comic series might not make the most money, but it’s a start. Everyone thought George Lucas was crazy, but he created a timeless film that people still love today. Where are the new stories? Why do we keep having to rehash ideas that were used to make a quick buck on newsstands back in the 20s and 30s? The comic book and the novel are both great storytelling forms, but so is cinema. Let’s joyfully make and watch new cinematic stories and quit worrying about whether Sir Ian Mckellen will reprise his role, and who will play Bilbo Baggins.

I’m going to enjoy God’s gift of cinema and make my own movies, and quit worrying how Del Toro makes his.

A Question of Violence

Posted by sean

As a christian filmmaker, I’ve always struggled with portraying violence in films. On one hand, violence is an integral part of conflict, which is part and parcel of what storytelling is about. To portray a realistic world, one where sin prevails, violence is essential. On the other hand, as a follower of Christ I am commanded to not glorify sin. Glorifying a product of sin is glorifying sin. By portraying violence in an exalted, emphasized manner, one that focuses on the violence as entertainment rather than as an aspect of story conflict, an artist is committing sin. Destroying the human body, a body that we are told is “The image of God”, solely for entertainment, is a deeply disturbing concept to me. This is why I hate films like “Saw” and “Hostel”. Last year I watched a short film on studentfilmmakers.com that aped the style of these films. I was troubled by what I saw and sent this message:

The film “Murdergenic” on the Summer Shorts ’07 contest page is EXTREMELY
offensive. Its portrayal of the twisted destruction of human life is
inappropriate for an educational website. I respectfully request its
removal.

Deeply disturbed,
Sean Anderson

I had not heard back from anyone at studentfilmmakers.com, and until recently, I had forgotten I ever sent such a message. Until today, when a representative finally replied:

Was it for example something not as evil but still along the lines of the
“…twisted destruction of human life is inappropriate…” as the
destruction of the life of the most and only devoted King of Eternity when
he walked the earth as a man and was nailed to a cross?

Truly
Kim

I’m not sure if Kim is a Christian. She might have visited my website and realized that I was. She makes an interesting point though. If Christ died such a terrible death on the cross, why can’t we portray similar death in our art? She doesn’t really address the film in question though. Here’s my reply:

Hey Kim,

I remember making this comment almost a year ago. I’d forgotten I wrote it. Thanks for getting back to me though. If I were you, I would have just ignored me. As I recall, the video in question was of an extended scene of torture, mostly mental, ending with a man brutally murdering a young woman, then, in the next scene, committing suicide. As far as I could tell, the filmmakers weren’t making any deep comments about sin or death, they were just emulating their depraved elders responsible for the Saw and Hostel franchises.

As a Christian, I understand the importance of violence. Christ’s death was the most violent and painful death anyone could ever face. Christ died for us, and it was only through such a severe sacrifice that he could pay for our sin. As a Christian I have the responsibility to remember and dwell upon that death, in all its ugliness, so as to worship Christ even more for what He did for me. But as a Christian, I also have the responsibility to create art that is not celebrating the sin that Christ died to cover. Exploiting a scene of such horrendous violence and doing so in such a graphic way has no place in my life. As a filmmaker I believe I should realistically portray the sin in this world, but not in such a way that would glorify that sin. I feel that this film, as well as the majority of slasher and horror films being produced today, glorify and celebrate sin.

These students have as much a right to make this film as I have to complain about it. We live in a free country, and I am proud of that fact. The truth is, this film deeply troubled me. I had trouble sleeping at night, even thinking clearly in class. I thought that if I was so painfully affected, others would be as well, and I wanted the staff at your website to consider this.

Thank you for your time,

Sean Anderson