Workflow

Working feverishly while I'm motivated to do so. I got the rush yesterday, sort of like the night-before-the-project-is-due-and-you-haven't-started-yet rush, except that I still had over a week, and I had already started.
But I like the rush. S'productive.

Keep on changing ideas for this project.
My original direction was to have been an online comic, no motion, no sound, just images and text, with an advance button as navigation.
Then I thought it would be cool to have it displayed in flash, and set up as a comic book, with screen, still static in content, but which would have to be moved around with a mouse to read the separate panels/boxes. I liked the idea of hand drawn elements being animated via flash.
Lots of drawings, getting bored with my idea, story isn't panning out.

Photographs! High speed shooting allows me to create non-video movement. Much smaller sizes than video, can be displayed with animated gifs or QuickTime or flash...

Hmm, they aren't narrative enough for me.

Bring the two together?
Flash element to display character content and background, load image sequences... either with flash or QuickTime.
Now I am working around the idea of a stationary frame containing my character (read: alter ego), presenting the image sequences cut to audio with on-screen text dialogue.

We'll see. In like twelve days.

Self Interview

Have you ever interviewed yourself?
You know, sat yourself down, made yourself pay attention, and then asked yourself some questions, making sure to listen carefully to the answers?

I did.

It was interesting.
Possibly more interesting, however, was experiencing the interviews created by and of my classmates. Every single piece was different, from fast-paced music videos to click-through text-based web pages, with every variation in between. The main similarity I found amongst the different interviews was the answer to one particular question.
The question, which came up several times in as many formats was this: "Chocolate or vanilla?"
The answer, without fail: chocolate.

My conclusion? Digital artists like chocolate better than vanilla ice cream.

I wonder if the same would be true for lattes...


...probably not.

3 AM Calm

So I was leaving the lab around quarter past three last night (this morning), and I realized just how wonderful a place my campus can be when it is completely empty. Of course I have music blasting from the headphones hanging around my neck, so it isn't particularly peaceful of anything, just very pleasant.
Perfect for some political sticker placement.
The light is real soft; shadows make the buildings look much older than they really are. No squirrels out tonight. A few raccoons, but they slink away into the darkness when I approach. I wish I could teach them to paste posters. No one would ever question a coon for being out late at night.

Got back home in time for Futurama at 3:30am on Adult Swim. Six hours until class. Might... just... sleep...

... Now.

Another day in the life

Football game. Massive parties. Hundreds of students, wandering in droves, seeking alcohol.
They stare, bewildered, as I inch forward towards thier position in the street. One shows signs of understanding, and moves to the sidewalk. Others follow, not because they understand the inherant danger of the vehicle, but because they see thier packmates moving.
I pass them, thier semi-lucid eyes wander past my face and into the mud on my windows.

Later, a party. 10 gallons of jungle juice and a keg of sierra. Doesn't interest the non-drinkers like me.
Oh wait, I'm the only one not drinking. As always.
Bunch of kids invade the downstairs where I'm drawing in my sketchbook.
Mirror. Baggies. I leave the room.
Cocaine always seems to infect everyone around me, making them break plans, pacts, friendships.
I leave the house. Go home. Up the volume, drop some vinyl.
Things are getting back on track.
Why did I ever leave my bassment?