Tag Archives: short story
Keyboard Warriors – Widescreen
This is the same animated short I posted yesterday but the widescreen version. I was hoping to find time to write a meaningful post today but at the moment that time is lost. Looking forward to updating soon.
Gym Gazing
I’ve completed my first animated short. I’m disappointed to learn that youtube requires 1080×1920 aspect ratio for a youtube short but lesson learned for next time.
Endless Toil
I went through a bit of a crises yesterday. Year after year has passed where I’ve worked passionately on a project only to chew on the seeds of my fruit. I’m comforted by the knowledge that I’m not alone in this – spend time on any creative platform or forum and you will discover that there is a surplus of unrecognized talent. It is also why I take issue with artists who are cherry picked by an industry and vaulted toward success because of their marketing potential rather than their skills. I actually take more issue with the idiots that defend them but that’s a whole other subject.
Since Monday I’ve been allotting more time to social media projects – such as the comics I’ve published here and a youtube short I’ve been working on. The youtube short has really bothered me because it requires designing a new character and adding a few elements to two already made characters. This doesn’t require much time, but allow me to break down the process of a scene’s creation for you:
- Record the audio for the scene. A youtube short must be 60 seconds or less, which actually adds complexity due to the nature of restraints. Because the audio is the foundation for the entire scene, it must be funny and communicated clearly. I think 30 minutes to an hour is a fair estimate per minute of voiceover recording. This would be condensed with a pre-written script, but of course the time would only shift to writing rather than recording.
- Draw the elements for the scene. The short I am working on requires a barbell, a mustache, a radio with receiver, and a new, rapidly drawn character. This could take anywhere from 30 minutes to 4 hours depending on the level of detail.
- Programming the character(s). For this scene I’d imagine that would take an hour or less.
- Record the character movements for the scene – 1 hour.
- Render out the characters, place them in the same environment, draw the background. I could imagine this taking 30 minutes for this short.
Altogether I envision I would be able to complete this 1 minute short in about 5-7 hours, or two days time. And that’s with cutting corners and ignoring impactful details.
I am devastated that quality content will always take significantly longer to create.
I can do the comics in a minimal amount of time, but nearly everything else requires multiple steps. I am even considering the idea of having one of my characters host a conspiracy or news type program. But even that, where all I’d have to do is record the audio and plug the character into a basic background, would still require time for the research.
I remain bothered by my realization; however, I place hope in my belief that I am sculpting the rotors of a machine that will eventually perform more work with the same amount of input effort. I have come to one realization, however.
No matter how much effort or time it takes to create something, it only truly “exists” when it is submitted for the world’s judgment. All the thinking, planning, executing – none of that can be consumed. If I drew a stick figure on a napkin, took a picture, posted it on twitter and a few people thought it was funny, I would have done more to grow my audience than I have in the past 6 months.
Clearly the work you do in private is meaningful and significant – worth quite a bit more than drawing stick figures on napkins, regardless of how many “likes” that may receive. With that being said, posting anything for the world to view will move me closer toward my goal than spending additional time sharpening the corners.
Finished – 3-13-23
I completed the sound mixing Saturday night and rendered the video and audio together yesterday. There are a couple of minor sound adjustments I will make but it is completed. I may add a title animation in the beginning and something at the end. I don’t have a credit scroll as I literally did everything but I would like to add something for the outro music.
I plan to make the episode available free for viewing in 2 weeks, and of course will host a link here. Leading up to that I intend to release short clips and some comics to showcase a few of the main characters. This will be low effort but valuable for generating traffic.
With episode 1 completed I am excited for what the future may bring. Having created an entire set of characters and backgrounds I anticipate future projects using these elements will be 10x more efficient. I will enjoy writing, animating, and mixing again, but more importantly I will be able to steer myself in a specific direction.
It does not require money to produce an animated story, only time. I’m going to treat this series as though it is the foundation for my filmmaking future. By recycling assets I have already created I will be able to distribute content more regularly and grow an audience. As my following increases so will my monetary avenues toward financing a live action film.
I should begin putting together the short clips but won’t be animating anything today. Instead I hope to make a song because it has been far too long since I’ve gotten to work with music.
Hope your week has started strong and you remain courageous in your trials.
Finishing Up – 2-17-23
I’ve got 2 scenes left to animate and have 25 minutes fully animated. The process continues to move along faster each day. I have created my final character for the episode, Nurse Becky, which took the bulk of my week. I have to say that created a new character is by far the most time consuming part of the process.
I have some ideas for how I’m going to promote the episode prior to its release. I believe animating a short 1 minute clip for each main character and releasing them as daily youtube shorts will do much to get the ball rolling. I’m going to limit myself to 1 character and one background angle per short.
My final 2 speakers should be arriving in the next two days. This will enable me to begin editing in surround sound. I believe the sound effects and foley design may move very fast. I will be using sound effects from “splice” in order to avoid spending time recording and editing sounds. The fun part is choosing the reverb, delay, speaker placement, and panning for the sounds. These tasks are simple and quick but allow me to be more creative than simply dragging and dropping the sounds into place.
The final part of the project will be adding music. I imagine at most using 1-3 songs for the entire episode. The more important “music” will be sounds that assist emotional transition. If you watch Southpark, there are several musical cues that indicate a scene transition or emotional moment. I hope to design high quality sounds that I can reuse for each episode.
I am very excited about what is to come and even more excited about watching my hypothesis of repeatability play out. When I begin work on the next episode, I will already have 12 main characters fully drawn and programmed. I will have 3 primary locations with a wide variety of camera angles.
I have chosen to make this comedy about private paramedic workers because the setting is relatively simple – each episode will feature the same 3 principle locations and 12 main characters for 90% of it. That means I may only have to create 1 new background and 1 new character each time I set out to create a new show.
Looking forward to the future and I hope you’re doing the same.
Quick Update – 2/5/23
I only have a few minutes to write this so I’ll keep it brief. I have 3 remaining scenes to animate and then it is on to audio. I did wind up deciding to purchase 3 additional speakers, I will have the option to mix the episode in surround sound. I intend to use splice for sound effects as they’re sounds do not inhibit monetization or commercial use for a reasonable price.
I greatly miss creating music and working with anything other than animation. The good news is I have been able to turn out a scene in a day or two lately – meaning recording the dialogue, animating the characters, and mixing them in with a background. The countless assets I created are working great, especially the vehicles and background characters. I am very excited to be done with this project soon.
I am still determined to put out short scenes but have not yet begun recording them. Once I am done animating the episode and take up work on the audio I will routinely create short 1 minute clips in the hopes of promoting the launch of episode 1. I hope all is well and you have a great day.
To Those Who Dig
A young man frightened his friend when he started to dig. He was convinced he had been blessed with a vision by God, directing him to the location of a ancient treasure chest. He set out to the hills in the early morning and did not return until the late evening. At the end of the first day, he did not find his treasure. His friend scoffed When the young man returned, but was relieved to see him back.
On the second day, the young man dug an additional 8 feet down. His friend was disappointed that he was still stuck on the vision, and asked when they would be able to hang out again. The young man informed his friend that he would not cease until he found his treasure. At the end of the second day, the young man did not find his treasure.
As the young man dug deeper he ran into a problem – the depth of the hole was too great to efficiently transfer dirt and rubble to the surface. The young man set into town to borrow a machine. At the end of the first month, the young man still had not located his treasure.
It was not enough to simply borrow the machine, the young man would discover. Operational challenges impeded his progress. The young man requested operational manuals which he studied in the library. At the end of the first year, he had not found his treasure.
The dig site had become something of intrigue to the rest of the town. While his friend went off and got married, the young man had somehow managed to dig a site with enough acreage that the town’s own mayor came out just to believe it with his own eyes. The mayor informed the young man that the location was perfect for the town’s new amusement park, and the young man’s knowledge of machinery would serve him well as the lead technician. The young man agreed, as long as he was permitted to dig further onward for his treasure. At the end of 5 years, the man still had not found his treasure.
He continued to dig relentlessly, even inventing new machines to assist him in unique challenges. He began filing patents and selling his own inventions to government contracted paleontology organizations. He had grown distant from his friend as the years rolled on, but knew he had children of his own, along a mortgage and lawn that put the other Johnsons to shame. Ten years passed and the man had not found his treasure.
In the twelth year, four months, and three days, the man found something – it was not gold, but it was black as death and runny as syrup. The man had struck oil in a location that he had purchased for pennies. He had never drilled for oil before, but was grateful to discover he was more than prepared to lead a team and purchase the right equipment. His oil business boomed – and soon he had sites throughout North American and even Venezuela. After 15 years, however, the man still had not discovered his treasure.
20 years went by when the man’s friend spontaneously decided to pay him a visit. He himself had fallen on some difficult times. Infidelity had led to the dissolution of his marriage, and that event had its own destructive role in his work performance. He never understood why he had cheated on the woman he had promised his heart, but also knew he his desire to cheat had been suppressed for far too long to write it off as a spontaneous act.
The friend was astonished to learn the man he grew up with now owned the largest skyscraper in all of New York, and the journey to his office would include 3 flights of stairs, 80 stories of elevators, and 3 separate ID checks. But when he entered his office, he saw something that made him forget all the other extravagant sites.
Smack on the desk, in between the friend and the man, was an unmistakable treasure chest – just like in the stories. It had already been pried open and featured gemstones, gold, and rubies. The friend dropped into the seat and placed his hat onto his knee.
“You found it,” he said, shaking his head.
The man nodded and grinned.
“Was it at the same site? You know, right where your vision told you it would be?”
“Oh, no,” said the man. “It was discovered in South America. We were excavating a new drilling site then rammed right into it.”
His friend was silent momentarily, then scoffed. “Jesus. You really had my heart racing there for a second.”
“Why?” said the man.
“Well, I suppose if it was at the site from your dream, that would have meant your vision was real. I suppose I would have to rethink some of my own beliefs. No offense, but I mean, I read the news – you’ve drilled all over the world. It only makes sense you finally found something, it was really just a matter of time. “
The man smiled.
“What are you going to buy with it?” Asked the friend.
“Hmm,” The man said. “I don’t know. I never really thought about that.”
His friend stood sharply and his hat fell to the floor. He grazed his fingers over the gold and jewels and gazed into the sunlight bouncing off the gems.
“Never thought about it! What the hell were you thinking about all that time?” He shouted.
The man plucked one the gold coins from the pile and flipped it into the neurotic grasp of his friend.
“I don’t really know,” said the man, “I guess I was just thinking about how to find it.”
The man turned his gaze to the window and down to the congested streets 80 stories below him. He sighed.
After 20 painstaking, backbreaking years, the legendary man still, had not found, his treasure.
Robot Paramedic – First Look
I’ve been tirelessly designing an animated web series that I intend to launch before the end of the month. The show is a buddy comedy about Blue, a salty paramedic and Ricky, his enthusiastic robot trainee.
The first episode will be about Blue realizing Ricky was not engineered for immediate success. They will experience their first real call together and it will put Ricky’s to-the-moon expectations through the meat grinder.
I have no intention or desire to be an animator, however I do view it as an effective media for storytelling. I can utilize skills and abilities that I’ve learned through filmmaking, music, and writing to produce short episodes with a high standard of quality. The cool thing about animation is you can constantly reuse assets – facial expressions, backgrounds, character actions. The larger plan is to produce episodes on a weekly basis that allow for greater time efficiency. Once the ball is rolling I hope to write a feature length script. As I build an audience for the show I can use that as leverage for other projects.
Hope all is well and I look forward to updating progress for episode 1 here soon. If you haven’t seen Doctor with the Red houseware yet, feel free to click the link and check it out on TUBI.
The Mynerthins – Part 2
Brent returned to work but had a difficult time concentrating. Durk had expressed relief that Assistant Plethor was dead. It was wrong to feel this way, as Assistant Plethor was an appreciated instructor who always kept the Mynerthins hard at work. Plethor made certain they did not deviate from their assigned informative discussions. As a matter of fact, Brent felt he achieved more when Assistant Plethor was actively encouraging him to complete his duty faster!
Brent paused his typing. Something was terribly wrong, he realized. For some reason, Brent was feeling more happiness at Assistant Plethor’s passing than he was supposed to. For the second time that day he wondered if he should seek out a medical evaluation. He searched the room and found the two men with dark sunglasses staring back at him. They approached.
“Brent,” the tall, slender one said. “Come with us.”
Brent followed the two men out from the main work area and into a compact, dimly lit private room. The shorter of the two men secured 2 bolts and a padlock after they shut the door. Brent noticed Steve placed what was called a “handgun” beside himself on the table. Brent had never seen a real one before.
“Call me Steve,” said the tall one, before thumbing toward his stockier, mustached counterpart, “This is Horatio. Do you’re know why we brought you here?”
“Yes,” said Brent. “Director Limely informed us you would help us engage and sort out our feelings toward Assistant Plethor’s death.”
“Great! Now let’s get started.”
Horatio clicked a pen and prepared to scribble notes on a piece of paper. Steve pressed a button on a recording device and a light began to blink red.
“It is a tragedy and something worth feeling sad about,” said Brent. An unsettling image flashed through his imagination – it was Assistant Plethor, only he was screaming and had the head of an axe wedged into his skull.
“It certainly is,” Steve finally said.
“Assistant Plethor always helped us get a massive amount of work completed. He was one of the best at ensuring our productivity.”
Horatio spoke with a chunky, burly voice. “I figure Assistant Plethor won’t be barking orders at you anymore. You must feel good about that at least, huh?”
“Yes,” said Brent. “Yes I think that is relief that I feel. How did you know that?”
The AC vent hummed as Steve scratched his chin. “What were you doing last night around the hour of 2200?”
“I took a shower and went to sleep.”
“Before the shower,” said Steve.
“I was either reading or writing.”
“Which was it?” said Horatio.
Brent thought about it for a moment. “I believe writing. I have been doing that lately.”
“About?” said Steve.
“I journal every night. It’s supposed to help organize my thoughts and feelings.”
“Did you murder Assistant Plethor?” said Steve.
Brent burst out in laughter and pounded the table with his fist. Sarcasm was a rarely acceptable form of communication for the Mynerthins, but one that he secretly enjoyed. It was believed to be a reflection of negativity and passive aggressive attacks, but Brent always found it to be more of an intellectual inflection.
“No, I did not murder him. Would you like to see my journal?” said Brent.
Steve leaned heavily onto the table as he tapped his fingers against his cheek. His eyelids squeezed together as he kept his gaze firmly trained on Brent. “Are you lying to us?”
The smile disappeared from Brent’s face. Being honest and truthful at all times was the most important virtue of the Mynerthins. Their purpose to human civilization was centered on the knowledge that they were the truth-tellers, provided with the authority to correct wrongful thoughts and dangerous opinions. A Mynerthin that was a known liar was better off dead.
“You have disgraced me,” said Brent. “You have not relieved my grief but sorely aggravated it. Assistant Plethor’s death was a tragedy and worth feeling sad over. I beg you to perform a lie examination on me and grant me the opportunity to redeem my integrity. I demand it.”
Sometime went by before Steve finally exhaled a heavy sigh.
“Horatio, go with Brent to his quarters. Check out his journal. And take pictures. I’ll bring in the next grief-stricken warrior.”
Horatio smiled as he stood. “You’re a natural therapist.”
“I demand a lie detector!” said Brent.
“You’re not getting it,” said Steve, before turning to Horatio. “The title’s Grief counselor, and you’re goddamn right I am.”
Brent felt as though his face were boiling as he watched Horatio unclasps the locks.
Thomas M. Watt 