Stew's Reviews: Les Maitres du temps (Time Masters)

Les Maitres du temps (1982)

I must confess, René Laloux's style of scifi is one that I have a soft spot for. Its something that gives the idea of being so fantastic that it has to be from outer space or it is so drug induced that you can't help but watch.

Laloux produced three of the most unique scifi films, La Planete Sauvage (Fantastic Planet), Les Maitres du temps (Time Masters), and Gandahar (Light Years). Fantastic Planet is widely considered to be a favorite among his fans (myself included). But this isn't a review of Gandahar or Fantastic Planet. This review is all about his lesser known film, Time Masters.


As a note, throughout this review I will refer to Les Maitres du temps as Time Masters, even though I did watch the original french version. This is only for my usual laziness of not wanting to type out the full original title.

The plot of Time Masters is easy to grab onto even when reading the subtitles. It begins with Claude (Piel's Dad?) and Piel racing away from an attack (most likely the insects of the planet that eat your brain). Claude crashes the speeder and tells Piel to listen only to "Mike" and to get to a weird coral forest. Mike is just an egg-like microphone that can send messages across the galaxy to someone who has the other mike. This adds an interesting layer because Piel, being maybe ten or so, utterly believes that Mike is alive (or a robot). So when Jaffar (your basic Han Solo) and the Princess talk to Piel via the mike, Piel gets confused because he wonders why Mike has two voices. Once everything is straightened out, Jaffar tells Piel to stay put and he will come and rescue him (because if he leaves the forest the brain eating insects will kill him). That is the basic plot, a race to rescue Piel from the planet of Perdide. However it is what gets in their way across the galaxy that fills up most of the story, as well as what Piel is up to while they are traveling.

The ending twist is pretty big. I would say its on par with the twist in the original SAW movie.


Time Masters art style comes from the famous artist Moebius (Jean Giraud). The style of the film is similar to the later Light Years as opposed to the hand painted look of Fantastic Planet. My only grip is that some characters, namily the prince and princess, look really plain. Kind of like a statue in their facial appearance. That and the princess has no eyebrows which weirds me out. The two gnomes, Silbad, Piel, and that waw-waw creature are probably my favorite designs. Jaffar is pretty good too, he has that tough, rogue look to him, but he just doesn't emote as well as the comical characters.


What I liked: As I stated, there were a few characters that I really liked. Piel is probably my favorite since he was animated with a lot of love. The way he spins Mike the first time he really gets to know him or some of Piel's subtle movements are what really draw you to him. His animation gives a sense of innocence, which when contrasted with the fragile nature of his link with our heroes, makes the tension high. This is especially true when the Prince begins manipulating Piel into drowning himself in a lake.

Silbad and the waw-waw creature are sort of in the same boat for me. They are both a quirky character along the same vein as Disney's humorous sidekick characters (only in this case they aren't annoying or lacking interest in their plight). Both of them have scenes that will stick with you the most (namely because of their depressing nature).

The gnomes (Yula and Jad) are very odd. At first I just though of them as goofy sidekicks like the goofy blob creature from Treasure Planet, but it becomes obvious that they are the narration that surrounds the film. Yula and Jad are creatures that can understand and "smell" human thoughts. If a human has bad thoughts they smell bad for example. The gnomes analyze several characters and explain their intents to the audience by how much of a headache they get from listening to their thoughts.


As with all of Laloux's films, the universe is just as interesting as the film itself. A forest of coral, luminous fruit, flowers that birth little people, and the blob monster that steals souls. Half the time you will be wondering if he either took a lot of drugs or if he really was crazy enough to come up with half of the weird stuff in his movies.

The bad: Alright, while the animation on the goofy characters is great, sometimes the animation on the "straight" characters (anyone who is an adult and not Silbad) is downright nonexistent. Its that bad anime animation where a character is just staring with no movement whatsoever, or just their mouth moves. The spaceship animation could arguably be worse since they are flat paintings that move across the screen. They look beautiful, but once you have seen one perspective of a ship you will end up seeing it again later. The Double Triangle 22 (Jaffar's ship) has a few views but the Interplanetary Reform only has one view resulting in a lot of obvious reuse. While I'm on the topic of spaceships, what's the deal with Double Triangle 22's cockpit? Its a clear glass dome! That's like if the Enterprise had a glass roof and a big red target marking where the command deck was.


I have to say I loved the music from this movie, mainly the intro song, but the song that the Princess sings really threw me. It wasn't the song itself, it was just that there was no suggestion of it. No sort clip of the Princess feeling motherly to Piel and softly singing to him, it was just a hard cut into a musical interlude. That and the fact that there was accompanying instruments to her lullaby. Once she is midway through the song it will feel right, but that initial cut into the song is so abrupt that it will throw you for a few seconds.

Final Verdict: If you like René Laloux's films you will like this one. Its not as much as an acid trip as his other ones, but the plot is very engaging. Its a really cool scifi, homer's odyssey kind of movie (by that I mean it is more about the journey). Unlike my previous reviews, this movie is fine for children. However there two deaths (well three but he's a jerk) and some blood.

This is sort of a side note, but why did they call it Time Masters? Sure the Time Masters are one of the main elements, but that doesn't happen until your 90% through the movie. The last thing you see is an actual Time Master (who look like glowing pod people). I think a title that refers to Piel would make more sense since he is the main focus of the plot. Whatever.

Next time: the movie that almost killed Nelvana, Rock & Rule.

Stew's Reviews: The Plague Dogs

The Plague Dogs (1982) was produced/directed by Martin Rosen, the same man who made the film adaptation for Watership Down. Both Watership Down and The Plague Dogs are novels of author Richard Adams. So basically I can tell you this now, if you have seen either Watership Down or The Plague Dogs, you can expect a similar style in both of them. Both are tales of animals struggling through life, fighting off man and beast.


Plague Dogs (I'm dropping the 'the' for my convenience) is your typical tale of man vs beast, or rather beast vs man. Rowf (the black lab) and Snitter (the fox terrier) are lab test animals that finally break out. The rest of the movie chronicles their survival against humans and their own need for food. That's basically it in a nutshell. It reminds me of Grave of the Butterflies, in that the draw of the film is just hoping that the heroes will make it by the end. Once I reached the conclusion I also noticed some connections to The Road. Two heroes who must fight to stay alive by killing bad guys or finding food. You are driven to watch because you connect with the characters and you and they hope that the next hill will have salvation.

But there is none. This is Plague Dogs after all. Where Watership Down has its low points, it also has a fair share of high points where the main characters finally succeed and live peacefully. Plague Dogs has none of that. Even when they finally manage to find food it is only ripped from them or it has the feeling of being too good to be true. When a movie starts and within the span of less that five minutes you have seen two dogs die, you know its going to be a rough ride. However the death and violence in Plague Dogs is not the same as in my previous review of Felidae, where violence felt more shocking. In Plague Dogs the violence feels right because it is justified in a way. As Rowf says, they needed to become animals like their ancestors, it is kill or be killed. They need to kill the farm animals in order to survive. Also, a lot of the real violence happens off screen, usually in a character jumping over a rock or fence to do the deed.


Technically, Plague Dogs is very good. The animation isn't smooth, but their attention to detail on the dogs reaction to events is spot on. Similar to Felidae, Plauge Dogs give the animals human dialogue, but their actions are very animal-like. Example: Rowf pees on a tree and discusses with Snitter about where they will go next now that they have escaped, then as soon as he moves Snitter pees on the same spot. In another scene a farmer tries to call Snitter over to him. Like a real dog Snitter hesitates, but since he's interested he slowly works his way toward him. However, in dog fashion, he stops to sniff a tree and doesn't make a B-line right too him.

I was both impressed with the background art as I was sick of it. Overall its all very painterly, which is nice, but its all very muddy. All the rocks look the same and dull (maybe that's how they look in that part of Great Britain, I don't know), but halfway through the movie I started to get a new perspective about it. The backgrounds all have a very saturated tones that gives off a depressing vibe, which is exactly how the artists want you to feel while watching it. This isn't a happy Disney princess movie, its Plague Dogs! You wouldn't be as investing in the character's hunger and desperation if the ground was all green and sunny. One thing that did stand out drastically about the backgrounds is the use of camera movements through them. The biggest one is when Rowf is howling at the moon for Snitter as the camera rotates around him. There is also another scene where Snitter is explaining where he went and the camera bounces around the ruined shack, popping into each window and opening to show the two of them talking. It must have been very hard to set up with each rotating and twisting background matching the cells of animation.


The characters were defined very clearly. By that I mean you could pick up what their character traits were very fast. Rowf, the big lab, was tested for his stamina so he is naturally strong. His thought pattern is mainly bent on killing anyone who messes with them. He wants to die fighting. Like all tough characters, Rowf is also very stubborn and a bit dim. He also thinks with the glass half empty. Snitter is the opposite, he is small, weak, and a positive thinker. While Snitter is dependent on Rowf's strength, Rowf is dependent on Snitter's motivation. Despite how positive he is, Snitter isn't a realist. His head is in the clouds about finding a master like his former one. That, and the fact that his brain was tampered with at the research facility. Snitter suffers from "flies in his head" and he constantly gets confused. At one point it gets so bad that he invents a better life in his head that he can see from time to time. Later on the two dogs meet up with a fox named "the tod". Tod, or the tod, is right away deemed a trickster (like all fox characters). The only reason the dogs team up with him is that he has real world experience in hunting and escaping humans. Throughout the movie they fight with him (well mostly Rowf does) because he is always swindling them in some way. The final character(s) is the narrators. Its kind of hard to understand if they are the dogs voices sometimes, but they are a interesting addition to the movie. What they do is explain the larger picture of what the dogs are up to, usually while we watch footage of the dogs running around. Each narrator is different, so some times it is a news reporter talking about sheep being killed by dogs, or a scientist from the lab telling someone to keep quiet about their escape. This is a unique use of narration that I have only seen used in small parts such as a letter being read or a phone call, not something that is used throughout the film. I love it. It reminds me of the new trend in current games where you will pick up an audio recording of serious event that plays as you continue to play the game. Also, there a lot of famous people who give their voices to the characters including John Hurt (Snitter) and Patrick Stewart (Narrator, Military Major).


Some interesting facts: There are two run times for Plague Dogs, one 86 minutes and one 103 minutes. The full version only played in Australia, which if you know Australia now that seems like a myth. Recently it was collected again for a DVD release that contains the missing bits. Most cuts parts were pointless, but once full scene was cut. In it a helicopter flies over some hills to find a dead body of a man who has been eaten. It was pulled because it was so shocking, but when you watch the film at that point the dogs were really starving so inevitably they would eat a human (I managed to see the scene and it is very powerful in retrospect of the whole movie. Like a final act of defiance against humans even though they really just wanted something to eat). The ending is like the book however in later editions of the novel (highlight to show spoiler - warning - does reveal ending of the movie) Richard Adams changed the ending so that the two dogs did survive and were rescued by Snitter's former master (who conveniently didn't die like he thought he had....so why was he sent to the laboratory?). They then lived with him happily ever after, the end. (End spoiler)

Final Verdict: While it may be violent filled with a lot of death, Plague Dogs is more about the depressing struggle of two dogs trying to find a better life. There is no swearing (maybe an arse or two I guess), and the violence isn't too life threatening, but I still think a child won't understand the serious plot. A great movie to watch (if you are okay with a constant feeling of dread), but I would suggest sandwiching this movie with something more lighthearted and comedic to bring your mood back on to a level playing ground.
Also, WARNING, THIS MOVIE IS NOT FOR CHILDREN OR ANYONE WHO IS TAKING ANTI-DEPRESSANTS.

Next time: Another 1982 animated film, Les Maitres du Temps.

Stew's Reviews: Felidae

So this is a new segment I'd like to call, Stew's Reviews, in which I review something (mostly films).

"Felidae" 1994

Described as a "animated, mystery noir about cats", Felidae shows us that cartoons can be for adults too. In fact I should state it right now, THIS MOVIE IS NOT FOR KIDS. It may not be for cat lovers either since the movie has a heaping helping of mangled, dead cats.

With that out of the way I'm sure your question is, "well if its not for kids what's so great about it?" What is the balls of this film? What is the thing that hooks the viewer in. It seems to be a few things.


First off, the animation is great. Felidae was the most expensive animated film so far in Germany, with a cost of 10 million marks. It shows in a lots of places. All the cats move like cats (no anthropomorphizing into two legged animals like in the Secret of Nimh). The scene that I can recall the animation being at its peak is one of nightmare scenes (you'll know it when you see it). Other than that there are some times where the animation suffers. Usually this is in two shots or close shots where two characters are talking. Then again I did watch it dubbed so maybe I am mistaken. It did seem to be more stilted during those scenes though. Overall the quality is something that you would see in a Disney/Don Bluth film.


The story itself is another draw. Like I said, its a mystery/noir film but told from the perspective of a cat. The story is taken from Akif Pirincci's novel of the same name. The main character is Francis, a tabby who just moved to the neighborhood. He begins by narrating over the scenes as he investigates his new home. This is where I was initially pulled in. The dubbing is unnoticeable. Francis' noir narration is spot on with all the typical gumshoe detective types. The voice actors fit the mold perfectly so there is never a time where you don't feel pulled out of the movie due to odd voices.


Back to the plot, Francis sniffs around and finds a dead cat in the back yard. Another cat, named Bluebeard, informs him about the goings on in the neighborhood. The two team up (although Bluebeard just goes along for the ride) to find out who is killing cats. All the evidence they find is geared to the characters, such as they find that certain scents at the crime scene or which victims were neutered or not. Like any mystery story there are lots of times where you come up with a theory along with Francis, only to be duped when some new facts comes into play. Sadly though, if your like me, you will figure out the killer somewhere in the middle, but the film still throws a lot of different data at you that will make you doubt who you think is doing it. Along with the mystery there are some undertones of Man VS Animals and some allusions to Hitler. The Man VS Animal debate won't be a bludgeon over your head like Fern Gully's Man VS Nature.


I believe in the beginning I mentioned something about dead cats right? Yes, that is probably the third thing that drew me into this movie (although I regret it). Here is a list of things you will see in this movie: dead cats, corpse puppets, suicidal cats, disemboweling, innocent cats dying, beheaded cats, drilling brains, acid in brains, cat torture, and.......cat sex (just as awkward as it sounds, don't worry its only for a couple seconds and it only happens once). Now why would I think this is a reason to see this movie? I think its the shock value. Its like haunted house on Halloween. Every new corner is filled with something that is going to freak you out. Most people (that are Americans) will constantly be saying, "wow, you would never see that in a Disney movie". Despite this, Felidae treats the material as serious and not like a SAW film. Its not there to shock you, its there to get you emotionally in the movie. One such grisly scene will make you instantly connect with Francis and his drive to end the murders.

Final Verdict: Watch it if your into interesting animated films that aren't so mainstream, but don't watch it if you have a weak stomach.

I heard that the dubbed English version is on the German DVD, but if you are too cheap you can watch it on youtube: Felidae English part 1

Website update and news

I just updated my website and now its down. You see I have an old email that is just full of junk as well as all the emails I get to my gmail account. One of those is my web hoster. So I assume they were sending me messages about paying my yearly bill, but I never read them since I only use my gmail account now. They called me up today to remind me. The point of all this is: My website is updated, but its down, and I'm in the process of paying for another year of service.

In other news I've been inspired to create something new. I was combing through my old files looking for something and I found a animated storyboard I did for a script I wrote.

Newly uploaded here > http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0D8BPf8obsI

I was also working on the character model of ADM (the guy with the newspaper) recently. I reworked his face so he resembles Vincent Price. I tried to give him hair too but it always came out looking weird. I need to dig out the old script and start figuring out what I need to model. So far (from my memory) there are three characters, maybe five sets, and one vehicle/character that I may or may not include since it only lasts one second. The story follows the original Tell-Tale Heart pretty closely with a few deviations. I picture a victorian/steampunk/german expressionism world (the usual) with robots. Horse drawn carriages that are cars with horses coming out of them, meals of electricity, and photos of a robot in their version of WWII.

Also, if someone ever asks me, "what is your favorite thing that you have created, art-wise" I would have to say this. I don't know why, but its my favorite. Its so dumb.

New Work

I have a blog? Oh yeah, I forgot.

A while ago I got a few jobs. Which means that the recession is over. If I can get not one, but two jobs, then the recession has to be over and we are working our way up and out of the hole.

Anyway, my first job is just a weekend position at Macy's Furniture doing receiving (stock). It's pretty easy for the most part and never gets to the point of being a stressful job. The main advantage is it isn't a on call or seasonal position. I get set hours on set days. No checking online for the possibility of hours or not being able to tell anyone when or if I will be working on any given day.

Not only do I have a consistent job, but I also got a job in my field. Its not as grand as it could be, but resume wise its very good. Basically I am drawing 15+ illustrations for two books as a 2nd edition. Its fun to come up with the character designs and keeping the illustration as correct to the book as possible. I hate when a book says something obvious like the character has blond hair, but the drawing gives them brown hair. Every line of the chapter has to be analyzed so that the image can match up. The beginning of one chapter mentioned that it had just rained, so I made sure to add some puddles and mud in the image.

ART STUFF:
I made a new animation since last time I made a post.

Shop lifter - Audio from Full House. I think in the original, Stephanie Tanner returns the stole sweater and learns a life lesson about stealing. But that's no fun to animate. I also reused a character I made a while ago. One day I want to build up a library of characters so I can use them for anything rather than make something new.

Run to the Bus Stop Old animation test I did for a company around August 2009.
The test was to animate a kid going to the bus stop. The run is pretty clunky, but I like the weird squash at the end.

I also started up a new comic series that I've had in my head for at least 3 years.
Higher Education 01
Higher Education 02
03 is done I just haven't colored it yet. I have been working on a character model sheet for the main character, Haley. Once I reveal her back story in the comic I will post it.

Future animation projects:
I've got an idea for
- an anti-drug ad with teeth
- Me reviewing movies and such, only I'm animated
- Bobby Tisdale's intro to Eugene Mirman's segment. He's so ridiculous with his "OH, I, DOUGHT, OOo...rrrrRRRussia. Ohhh, Russia!" Its one of those things that screams,"ANIMATE ME".

Breath of Fire III review

(Also available on PSP via the UK and Australia. Why not USA?)
Not many people talk about this game, so I thought I might bring it up. As a little backstory, this was the first game I got for my Playstation. Keep in mind this was also my first experience outside the relm of Nintendo fandom so I wasn't sure what I was getting into. After a while though I was obsessive about the BoF universe.

Story: Where to start? Like all Breath of Fire games it has the same few characters, Ryu, Nina, and that snake woman who has a different name each game. BoF3 seems to follow the first two games plots since some of the former main characters make an appearance either as a race or as a npc like a merchant etc.

The story is probably better told than any Final Fantasy game I have played. First off, you don't need to take notes to understand it. Its also not so cut and dry as "go here, defeat this". Characters come and go, some die, and even the npc side stories are almost as deep as the main character's. There are so many plots that the game takes you through, the designers could have cut out half the content and still had a great game. The biggest plot twist comes in halfway through the game and it changes things so much it feels like you're playing an expansion or a sequel.

My favorite part of the game is the progression of the main character Ryu. At first he is weak and a coward. When he attacks he looks away and swings his sword randomly with a yelp. Later in the story he gets braver and he swings his sword professionally to reflect this. Did they need to add that different animation to reflect that he is getting stronger? No, but just watching your character change over time is very gratifying.

Gameplay:

RPG simplified. Attack, defend, items, magic/special attacks, and watch. Moves are all assigned to the control pad so if you wanted to defend you just press right and X. Simple. No complex menus at all. One thing that blew me away when I first played this game was the fact that all the battles took place where I ran into the enemy. Not many RPGs had that at the time. There isn't any tactics with the higher and lower elevations, but at least you're not teleported to a generic battle stage.

Magic in the game is varied. Characters can have varied attacks thanks to the watch move that allows your characters to learn the moves that enemies use on them. Very cool, but the character is an open target while they are trying to learn a new move. Each character has their own main magics, Nina being the magical powerhouse, and Ryu with his dragon transformations. Speaking of that, Ryu's transformations are quite creative on their own. Throughout the game he gets powers such as ice or mutant that can be combined to form new dragons. There are many different types, a small dragon, a larger dragon, behemoth, warrior, and several more. Some combinations can even result in errored, but rare transformations.


I might also point out that unlike BoF4 which had 3D versions of the dragons, those where only in game cutscenes whereas in BoF3 Ryu is always transformed.

The field gameplay is fairly simple. You walk around an isomeric area, use the R1 button to free look around the buildings etc, and use the triangle button to "steal". Stealing is just the player controlled character slashing, headbutting, or even using a cannon on NPCs which sometimes yields some coins. It is also like the Lost Vikings games in that each character has a specific ability that can be used on the field. Peco can hit objects, Nina uses magic to power things, and Garr can move big objects. There are many times where the game takes a break from fighting and you have to solve puzzles with the characters.

Anyone who has played the game can tell you that fishing is one of the main game highlights. Pick your bait, your rod, and cast out the line. Caught fish can even be used in battle to heal or cause damage to the enemy. If you catch the right amount of fish you can trade them for rare items. The other main mini game is the fairy village. It's kind of fun, but it is kind of tedious. I liked it because I could make item shops and a free hotel within quick access wherever I am on the world map. Along with this there are MANY smaller mini games such as training a weakling to fight his stronger rival. The desert crossing mini game is really annoying however. It does give you the feeling that you are taking part in Laurence of Arabia, but without any online guides it could be your downfall.

Graphics: Okay, looking past the aged square background polygons, the pixled sprites, and some of the effects, it still stands on its own really well. The sprite animation is really varied and full of reactions. Like I said before, they took the time to create different animations for the same character just to show what we already know. There are a ton of cute actions like Ryu and Nina "talking" in the background while Momo has a serious conversation.

Sound: Its varied and never gets on your nerves. One thing that I really love about the Breath of Fire series is each game has a point where the battle theme changes. Its not the same rocking beat 100% of the game. In BoF3 it happens at that change in the game I mentioned earlier. Another thing that blew my mind at the time was that the characters had voices! Wait? You mean at one point characters just made slashing sounds when they hit someone? Yes, and you can just play Final Fantasy VII to hear/not hear that (man I am really bashing FF today). Sure its not full blown dialogue, but they do speak actual words. I used to play around with the custom magic spells to hear how other characters would say them since they all have slight Japanese accents. Most of the sounds are just exclamtions though, but still that's better than silence.


Afterword: BoF 1 and 2 are okay. The first BoF feels like an RPG Maker game and BoF2 feels like an advanced RPG Maker game. Then BoF3 blows out of the water keeping all the good of the previous games and adding to it. I'm still not sold on BoF4. It's like BoF3 with a clean layer over top of it. The character animation is beautiful and it has the added 3D dragons (but Ryu is always in warrior form). The story is very crazy because you play as the final boss throughout the game and learn about all the things he is doing while Ryu travels around. The ability to learn attacks, fish, and the fairy village return too. Despite all of this the story and game plot flow just aren't as interesting as BoF3's. However the point where the main cahracters finally find the princess is probably the highest point (not being sarcastic, it is a pretty traumatic moment). It was so-so which is probably why they changed things up for the fifth Breath of Fire: Dragon Quarter. I haven't played that yet, but it sounds pretty interesting. BoF in a futuristic setting and the reviewers say that dying in the game actually affects the game somehow.

All I am saying is PLAY THIS GAME. Screw next gen murder fests, Breath of Fire III is where its at.

Of Critters and Animation

Two new animations for the month.


Spiderbot rig by atezel at creativecrash.com. Story: Patrolling spiderbot encounters a flawed cube in the cube making factory.



Audio from Seinfeld "The Wink". Animated in Flash.

Both of these took me forever to get into a format and size that youtube would like. I like hd264 in mov format, my version of After Effects doesn't understand the new version of Quicktime I guess and it won't give me these options. I can get it to render out a version in avi, but its usally a gig and that would take forever to upload to any site. In the end I have to compress it until it looks decent. I have to upgrade After Effects so I can get some of that sweet HD264 compression action again.


I want to watch Critters again. I watched it when I was a kid and it freaked me out. It wasn't until I watched Dead Alive (Brain Dead) that my fear of horror films disappeared. It was so over the top that anything else won't bother me.

I love the first version of horror films. Its back when people aren't expecting Jason to appear or Chucky isn't cracking jokes. Sequels just spread the initial butter out until its just a thin layer. However some sequels, like Aliens and Chucky II, improve on the original concept.

Speaking of horror films, I watched the Mystery Science Theater version of The Beast of Yucca Flats this weekend. Wow. Worst Movie Ever. It's bad. There is barely any dialogue, and if there is its obviously a post production recording. Most of it is narrated but all his dialogue is confusingly poetic, such as telling the audience that the characters are "moving towards progress" over and over. There are a lot of scenes that have no purpose, such as people moving from one place to the other. There is a lot of violence, but no blood so you can never tell if someone is dying from a shot or just wounded. Most of all, Tor Johnson plays the Beast. The same Tor Johnson of Ed Wood fame. The movie is so bad but you can see the plot and how things could be better edited right in front of you. That's why I think its time for a remake of The Beast....starring Vin Diesel as "The Beast"!

New Year

What's new? Well I'm working on maybe redesigning my old short, LOST & Found as seen here I'm working the character model now. I'm reworking the plot too, just minor things though. Wilson will be replaced with a sock puppet on his hand. The pin-up girl will be replaced with a big boat, kind of like the one from the Triplets of Belleville. The rest is pretty much the same but I want to add some different direction this time, camera cuts etc.

Now that the holiday season is over I'm pretty positive its time to look for more work. Hopefully this time around I might manage to land a job with something more in my career line.

Unreleased Sketches

A whole lot of stuff I've been sketching in my free time. The conjoined twins one is from some request I got recently. Some people are weird.

Currently I have two part-time jobs that I have been trying to juggle. Nothing great, but I really need to pay the bills and most decent jobs are getting taken up really quick.

The first job is at Macy's. I can never remember the job title, but basically I do whatever I'm assigned to. One day I was signing people up to be on a list for assistance, another day I was putting shoes back on their podiums. Its a good job for me because I can use that OCD gene to clean up all the unfolded clothes or hangers that are lying around.

The other job is with UPS. I'm a driver helper again so it shouldn't be too hard, as long as I don't twist an ankle or wear out my back.

Like I said, I would rather have a career job, or something relating to my career, but times are tough and a job is a job.

Lost Artist

I used to know this artist on Deviantart called Killamangiro. Her signature is DRX though.

When I first saw her art I was skeptical. I mean, its all simple, and everyone has long arms and legs. But after looking at it for a while I realized that she had the makings of a really interesting style. It reminds me of some European illustrators I've seen. I managed to con her into an art trade, one of my characters for one of hers. I did Tobias and she did my character Euna. I would show you her version of Euna, but she deleted everything from her account. I blame the artist depression/modesty.

Artists come in two packages, those who are too modest and those that are too egotistical. Modest artists are usually good, or on their way to greatness, whereas egotists are either so good they know it or so in the dark that they don't know they are bad.

DRX was one of the modest ones however. In most of her posts she would grumble about how bad things looked, but I was always there to bring her up. It was really sad to see that she not only gave up on art, but took away all the art she had put up. I was tempted to post the two pieces I managed to keep before see deleted them all, but I figure it was her right as the artist to remove them so I shouldn't go against her wishes and post them.

That being said, I've decided that now that I have most of Brandon Graham's style, I think its time I added a new style. Since DRX is pretty much gone, its time I learned her style and implement in.

Graphic Designs

I'm working on making a few graphic design type illustrations into my portfolio. It is hard to apply to a job you think you can do when you don't have any examples that support it.

I have been obsessed with Godzilla lately so that's why I drew up Gigan. The text is 'kaiju' which is basically Japanese for giant monster. I really got into Godzilla after watching James Rolfe's "Monster Madness" videos that featured Godzilla (Which is here). Like all of his reviews he throws in a lot of humor, trivia, and history.

On the day-to-day scene I'm still applying to jobs. I have a few lined up that could go somewhere, and if they all work out I might actually have to quit a few to manage them all. Although, in this economy, that is highly doubtful. I wouldn't mind two part time jobs though.

As always I have some crazy stuff that I am into that I have to post up here. This time it involves Arnold Schwarzenegger. I found a band that does nothing but songs themed by the man himself. The band is called Austrian Death Machine. "Get to the Choppa", "Who is Your Daddy and What Does He Do?", and even "Jingle Bells". It is all heavy metal, or as Arnold calls it, brutal!

Old but New Stuff

Art from the student made game, Gold Rush. Well, pre-production made anyway. It should be in development right now though.

I liked how crazy our style guide was on this one. All it was, was a slanted ! shape and make everything worn. Those guns are an example of how crazy I got into making things old and squared off.

I had a blast working on that project. Working in a group makes your art explode ten fold from what it was before you started. Which is why I hope one day I might be working on another project.

Sadly, I haven't found that project yet, or maybe it hasn't found me? Either way I'm cutting back on my loftier goals of getting a awesome job and going for contract jobs and regular jobs like at Macy's.

Aside from that I'm working on a 2 minute animation of a bit by Nick Swardson. Its the dumbest two jokes I have ever heard, but that is why I wanted to animate them. Its all in flash and I'm trying to make it sort of like the show, Shorties Watching Shorties. That was a great show and I'm surprised that there aren't that many bits on youtube. The baby scenes were so-so, but when you take animation and the best comedians throw at you, its a great combination.

Manga of Mentionable Worth

I, like many people, am pretty tired of most Japanese art. It was cool for a while, but now everything is soaked in it. I haven't bought a manga in several years, but I found a few in the regular comics section one day that peaked my interest. They were by an artist by the name of Junko Mizuno and she doesn't deal in your average Japanese story or look. Most would say her style is like the Power Puff Girls, but eyes and round, simple shapes. But if you really read though a Mizuno book you'll see that the style is more like an illustrator, which she started out as. Most of her art is seen on t-shirts, stickers, and some figurines. Here is my top four Mizuno comics that need to be read:

4) Hanzel and Gretel



Part of Mizuno's fairy tales series of comics that feature old tales redone in a way that only Mizuno could do. What is cool for us westerners is when the publisher said they were going to take her stories over to the U.S. she requested that the comics be printed in that traditional comic book paper for that classic look and she would also redraw several panels. Now that's caring about your product. What makes a Junko Mizuno comic about Hazel and Gretel any different from any other story you ask? Basically its her main ingredients: problems involving food, unnecessary nudity, violence, her illustrative style, and a whacked out story that keeps you entertained.

Hanzel and Gretel barely follows the original plot. Its Hanzel and Gretel...that's all that is from the original story. Hanzel and Gretel's parents run a grocery store (the only one in town) but soon their distributors turn evil and stop giving them food. My favorite distributor is the giant pig that cuts off the meat from himself to give to the store, but its okay because he's regenerative. Overall, not my favorite comic of hers, but its got a few twists that separate it from any other comic you'll read.

3) Cinderalla


Yes, that's CinderRALLA. Not Cinderella. This story is much more similar to the original than Hanzel and Gretel is. Only where Cinderella wanted to be rich, Cinderalla wants to be a zombie. Yes, a zombie. Cinderalla's father dies (he's a famous chef, yet another food related theme), and Cinderalla finds out that at night he is a zombie. He marries another zombie and they continue to run the restaurant. Problem is everyone wants Cinderalla to assist them in some way. Her new zombie step sisters are bothering her as well as her new mother who needs to be fed constantly. But soon she meets an attractive male zombie singer and she falls in love with him. Problem is, the only way to see him in concert is to become a zombie. Any plot where the character wishes they were a zombie is a great plot in my book. Of all her books, Cinderalla is the funniest.

2) Princess Mermaid



Yeah, it's the Little Mermaid, but like any Mizuno comic, it's not. It starts out with three mermaid sisters who lure sailors into the sea (I think this is actually a folk lore in Japanese culture). But like all Mizuno comics, it doesn't end well for the sailors. Tura, the evil sister, murders the sailors and they all feast on their bodies (the food related content of this book). Well, except for Julie, the hero. She wishes that they could just get along with the humans. Tura reminds her that her mother (and all the other mermaids) were murdered for their eyes and scales. This comic has so many things going on its crazy for how short it is. Tura's goal is the destruction of the human's specifically the ones that killed her mother. Julie ends up falling in love with a human who is related to the ones that killed her mother. As expected, chaos insues. Unlike Ariel, Julie gets an operation to be human, but its cut short halfway through leaving her partially mutilated. Tura's ending is very dramatic, I almost wished it would have been different but I guess that's what makes it so good.

1). Pure Trance


First off, this is the biggest book she ever made. It's huge by any graphic novel standards. This was Mizuno's first comic, and it was released originally with several techno cd's called, of course, Pure Trance. The compilation book is great because on several pages there are extra bits that tell about things you wouldn't know just by reading the comic, such as minor character back story and what the characters are watching on TV. I love this because it gets you one step closer into an already deeper story.

Some pages:
Nudity, but with an awesome chainsaw
Pill death, check out the info box on the bottom of the page
Violent death of a cute monster (however there are worse...)

And this story is DEEP. I mean, like a three hour movie that feels like its three hours, deep. Basically, its the future and everyone has moved underground to escape the radiation from some nuclear holocaust. People don't eat real food, they just take pills that are flavored like real food. Of course women are prone to overeating these pills and getting sick (yet again, this is the food related problem of this book). The story revolves around the nurses who work at a clinic where they treat these sick women. The head doctor is a whack job who is obsessed with eating real meat. She has her minion go out and get fake animals or real ones if she can find them. All the other nurses are level headed, but the doctor is so crazy that she abuses them all the time and at one point she kills one of the nurses. One of the main nurses takes the children of two sick women (who died), and they end up on the surface world. Everything up there is a drug trip and all the humans there are nothing but floating brains with eyes. Time passes and the nurse that brought them up there gets really sick because she isn't used to eating real things. She returns onyl to be be murdered by the vengeful doctor. So its up to the children to return and avenge the nurse.

I can't get across how great this graphic novel is. Its not only my favorite Junko Mizuno comic book, it's also in my top ten favorite graphic novels ever. Forget the Watchmen, read Pure Trance.

Silent Hill: AVGN

While checking out the art from the new Silent Hill game, Silent Hill Shattered Memories, I noticed that Harry looked a little familiar. A little photoshopping and there it is, the Angry Video Game Nerd in Silent Hill.

New Stuff

A little Silent Hill 3 fan art. I wanted to draw some really gorey art, so Double Head came to mind. This is pretty much why Silent Hill is so popular. You turn a corner and BAM there is a weird looking creature in your flash light beam.


I'm not sure why but I wanted to model and rig Heather from Total Drama Island (and I guess Total Drama Action as well, minus the hair). I found her turn around on totaldramaisland.blogspot.com which is a really great blog made by its creators. I'm not much of a modeler so I chose Heather because she has the least amount of weird geometry on her body. Just look at her hair, it's a brick! My ultimate plan is to texture her in toon shader and then animate a few of the interview scenes from the show. Could be fun.

On the job front I'm still looking. Everyone says I'm bound to get one eventually. My Dad just wants me to get a job, any job, at this point. I'm okay with that because I can always look for career jobs at night after work. I found a photo editing job and a stock associate job that might turn into something I hope.

Birthday

I finally have my computer running again. No viruses, hackers, or dead video cards anymore. Once I get a decent job I'm going to have to fully upgrade it though. Three years ago it was top of the line but now it struggles at a few things.

Speaking of jobs I've gotten a few bites. I took two and a half tests so far (the half is hard to describe let alone understand myself). No interviews however but who knows. I did manage a freelance gig with an Art Institute student that could be a good job for my resume.

A lot of the jobs out there are for flash and graphic designers. Not much 3D animator positions unless they require modeling, rigging, lighting, the works. A lot of the jobs I've been signing up for require Illustrator, but I would just use flash. Not CS4 though, I've tried that out and I'm not much of a fan of all the animation downgrades. What happened to keyframing an object, making a second keyframe that is on the other side of the screen only bigger, and making it grow/move at the same time? Even with the so called "Classic Tween" my symbols just slide over then grow in one frame. CS3 could do it so I'm not sure what happened. I'll upgrade to Toon Boom before I use CS4. From what I've seen of that program it looks like it can streamline a bunch of processes for you. I even heard that they animate Family Guy on it.

I was thinking the other day, Maniac Mansion was a real awesome game. I sold all my NES stuff when I moved, but I kept a copy of Maniac Mansion I had. It's so bad, but good at the same time. The Bad: The graphics look pretty bad - the characters walk like South Park when they move forward and in reverse - Using the NES controller like a mouse is horrible - while some of the music is great (ie Michael's theme or the alien's), a lot of the music is just high pitched screeching (ie Bernard's theme). And yet it's still a great game. Multiple characters with their own abilites like Bernard can fix things but the other kids can't, so choosing the right character becomes very important. The jokes are great and quirky like Jeff who puts the hamster in the microwave or calling the Alien Police. Since there are multiple characters, the game has to be set up so any combination will result in the same ending, so there are many paths to take in order to win. I was always interested in the fact that events would happen at certain times but there isn't a clock around warning you like when the nurse or the son walk around to get things or the time it takes the alien police to come down. Plus, like a lot of Lucasarts adventure games, you can die very easily if you do the wrong combination of tasks like filling the pool or fooling with the nuclear reactor.

My birthday is only 9 days away. I think I'm getting old because I don't need anything anymore. My computer is fixed so that's all I needed. I don't even want to do anything special that day. I don't mind birthday cake though, that is a must.

Bummer

My computer got hacked last week and I've been reeling from that. So far I got rid of all the messed up files and viruses, but of course, that deleted all the major files that keep Windows running. However, my friend Keith is a technical genius and he suggested I use the Ultimate Boot CD or UBCD. It's a boot CD that runs off the disc drive so windows works, but it's just on a cd. It also contains a huge amount of recovery programs. Sadly, none of them can recover what the antivirus program did, but at least I can see my files. It's like a security blanket that I can just look at but can't touch. I know they are there, I just can't get to them. I would like to just wipe the drive clean and start again but it has all my backup data from the last two terms as well as all the info I have for my website. By the way, my website is up, stewart-thomas.com.

I was hunting for jobs, but lately I've stopped since my computer crapped out on me. I think I have my resume on backup along with some other things, but I just haven't been in the mood.

Luckily my Dad's computer works so I can still check for job related things and ways to fix my computer situation.

Graduation

Me at the portfolio show with none other than the dynamic duo, RUSHPUNX, aka Russel and James. The graduation went well. Nothing too spectacular. I had hopes for a possible call back from any one of the employers at the show, but no such luck. I figure that even in this rough economy, as long as I keep trying, a job should present itself. Apply for ten jobs and you'll probably not get a single interview. Apply for a hundred jobs and the odds of getting an interview are much, much higher.

Last week I spent at my parents house. Without my computer I couldn't work on this months 11 second club piece. Oh well, by tomorrow there will be next months up and I can take a crack at it.

While I was at my parents, my Mom and I went to a bunch of thrift stores. One of them had old comics for a buck so I pounced on them. They had a lot of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles comics that I never read. The ones by eastman and Laird. I was into the Archie comics version of TMNT called TMNT adventures. I snagged a few from issues 40 to 49 where Eastman and Laird were taking a break and letting other artists and writers make thier own issues. I got an issue that was drawn by A.C Farley who had done a few pinups in one of the TMNT Adventures comics that I used to read. His style is so interesting to me. He makes the turtles look both cute and rounded, but also very tough when the scene demands it.

That's not the issue, but it best shows his unique style.

There were a bunch of superhero comics there, but I'm not much of a fan of those. That was until I saw War of the Gods: Wonder Woman Vs Lobo.

Now from what I've learned, Wonder Woman was the biggest feminist ever when she started out, but she's about 10% of that now. Lobo, on the other hand, is the biggest mysogynist ever.

It's like some goofy sitcom having them fight, but that's why I was drawn to it.

As always with hero battles, no one really wins. That movie Hulk vs Wolverine was different, but for the most part it's usually a draw.

In the issue a wall bursts open and Lobo rams into Wonder Woman. She lassos him, but with reason, they realize they are sort of on the same side. Lobo proceeds to beat up the women that were following Wonder Woman and Wonder Woman beats up the woman who was fighting Lobo.

Pretty lame, they could have at least had a few more pages of them feuding. I just wish someone would make Wonder Woman the woman she was before and not this sort-of tough princess type she has become.

PINGAS

Mama Luigi put it on the fridge.


Some animation I've been interested in lately.

Abigail, a 3d animation by a student at Ringling College of Design. The students at Ringling do some amazing short films. They aren't always the best animated, but the design is through the roof. Every student seems to come out of there with a beautiful illustrated quality of art.

Tenacious D Rock Song The poster doesn't know who animated it. I assume it was someone who worked on Timesplitters 3 due to the character models. Really amazing animation.

Sproessling by Anne Breymanna German stop motion animator. It's a short film about a woman who orders a baby making kit that grows the baby in a pot like a plant. Something goes wrong and she unleashes something evil. There is something about stop motion animation that makes it easy to make scary short films. I think it's because the animation is always a little jerky even in the hands of the best stop motion animators. But that's what makes it so great.

Watch out for the Starkfin

Man, I can't believe I forgot to upload this. I drew Ryan in that muscle and bones class last term. This was one of the better ones.