Speaking of resolutions, Happy New Year, everyone!
Well, several years later, I am pleased to see that the film is almost out, and there is a trailer for the film up at Apple. It will be released in September of next year (yes, on 9-9-09). There are some significant changes to the film now that it’s enlarged from short to feature. I was initially disappointed to see that the directors made the decision to have the characters speak, when part of the appeal of the original was its reliance on pantomime. But from what I can see in the trailer, it hasn’t hurt the appeal of the film. The trademark look of the film is there, and I recognize a couple of shots that look straight out of the original. And I suppose adding Hollywood names to the cast might help get the film a wide audience, and since I want the film to succeed, I guess that’s OK.
But it’s good to see this happening for Shane, and I wish the film much success.
TIP: While you wait for the film to come out, why don’t you read the original interview with Shane at AnimWatch?
(Thanks to Tom Dell’Aringa for the tip).
The first two chapters are free… this is a great opportunity!
It’s tempting to beat myself up for this. After all, one of my goals on Moon Town was to see how fast I could make a film series. Seen solely from the standpoint of completion speed, I’ve failed miserably.
But there is a silver lining in the fact that the project’s taken longer than I planned. Ordinarily, I work extremely fast. But in slowing down on Moon Town and letting the project take whatever time it needs, I’ve been able to redesign and revise some of the assets I was never quite happy with. As a result, I’m seeing a cohesive look beginning to develop that is much more interesting than some of the quick designs I did earlier. So as I move toward final assets for Episode One, the project is benefiting from the fact that I was able to let my designs and the project mature a little bit and see what designs truly belong in this project.
Seen from the standpoint of what I’ve learned about the project over the past year, Moon Town has been a success. I know a lot more about this film series I’m developing, and I think it’s much better than it would have been had I gone with the first solutions I came up with. So many times those solutions are pedestrian, even lazy. Take the moon:
Basically, the Big Secret to good design, or really any good work on a film, comes down to time. That’s bad news for a film that started out to prove how fast I could make it, but it’s pretty obvious that speed sacrifices quality and vice versa, and that’s just the way it is. But given the time to develop properly, the project seems to be on better footing. I’m really looking forward to the next year.
Lotta fun, and good to be asked. It’s always an interesting experience to try to get into somebody else’s characters and universe, and try to write gags for them. By funny coincidence, my strip goes pretty well with the one before it, even though each of us drew the strips with no knowledge of what the other was doing, or even what was coming before or after us.
Anyway, I encourage you to go have a look, browse through their archive. Quite a variety of entries, and you help Make-A-Wish just by browsing through the comics.
The 30-minute short is to debut during this Christmas season… but sadly it appears only on BBC1 thus far. But one can cross fingers.
The 25-minute film is directed by Philip Hunt, and will be on TV on Boxing Day (the day after Christmas for the uninitiated) but… once again, and alas… only in the UK. For more info, see the post at Cartoon Brew.
Did I tell you how much I enjoyed my trip to London? Oh, I did? OK.
Just asking. I have a couple of funny and/or embarrassing stories involving Zach Braff and the St. Martin’s Hotel staff that I never mentioned. If you want to hear, you know all you have to do is ask. (Though I should make it clear that the events are mostly unrelated).
Thanks to Tom Dell’Aringa for the tips…
