That Secret EEnE Project

Soooo... YEAH, for the past year, I've been slowly putting together an EEnE Movie of my own. I'm only recently making much progress, though.

Before anyone gets too hyped up, I'm not WRITING my own movie. I'm going for the same charm as my animated music videos (particularly the mature ones) and using the ENTIRE AUDIO from a real movie. I don't know if I want to disclose what movie yet, though, because it may spoil some of the outcomes for you. Some fun things to note are that I've already worked in the junkyard van, jawbreakers, the cul-de-sac, the school, and the candy store, and I already have ways to work in every character, some extras, some new areas, the construction site, and the trailer park. I haven't yet found a role for the junkyard, but I think there may be enough room in the Jonny/Rolf/Ed subplot for them to go joyriding in the junkyard. I have 5 minutes fully animated, and another 5 minutes as an animatic with backgrounds in part one. In part 2, I've got about 3 minutes animaticized with backgrounds.

Here's a basic outline of the concept, just so you aren't confused about certain character changes when you see it (may contain BPS spoilers):

It's been 2 years since the end of the Big Picture Show. The Eds still hang out, but the kids' new openness to them has allowed Ed to branch out into more groups (he is sadly not with Edd and Eddy for most of the movie, but they do get some time together), while Edd and Eddy's drama in the movie has made them more closely knit (though their bickering may have gotten even worse). Jonny's cooled down since the whole "Gourd" thing and now hangs out with Edd and Eddy because they're the only ones who will (grudgingly) put up with him. Rolf's the same (though the character he plays in the movie is not foreign, I feel the role fits him otherwise; perhaps he's become more adjusted to the US?), Nazz is the same (but is more important to the story than usual!), Sarah's still nice in most respects, but she and Eddy just naturally can't stand each other. They've managed to tone it down to an "avoiding each other" tactic, though. Something's gone wrong with Kevin and he's back to hating the Eds, and the Kankers have kinda just mellowed out. Eddy's brother is still frightening, though he's quite possibly high and drunk at the same time so he's even less in his right mind than usual. The Eds are about to graduate from 8th grade and, among other storylines, are troubled because Edd is going to go to a different high school than [Ed and] Eddy. Also, to explain inaccuracies between the audio and this story I've set up, the kids are going through a fad where they call high school "college" and they've also watched a recent influx of high school movies and think they've gotta get laid immediately. And you can explain the different names however you like. Nicknames? Part of a fad? References to the movies they've been watching? YOU DECIDE.

THERE'SYOURINTRODUCTION.

Returning with a SEEEECREEEET

Hey all! I've been kinda out for a while... I've had a few chances to update the blog, but between school pressure, being social, trying to get money, and oddly enough, ACTUALLY ANIMATING DESPITE ALL THIS, I haven't felt much like hitting pause and updating. 'Specially since there's hardly anyone reading this. :P

Well, first off, remember that EEnE fan movie I said I was making last October? I'M FINALLY BACK AT IT. =D I've decided that it was stupid of me to think I could animate the whole thing perfectly in one shot and that's what was holding me back, so now I'm doing the whole thing with just the main poses and backgrounds, so I can go back and just add in-betweens and some colors when I'm ready. I'll probably stop being secretive about this movie soon, I just feel I have more important news to share right now.

Second off, I'm taking commissions, so pleeeease ask about 'em if you can afford to!

FINALLY.... As I put the finishing touches on Miracle on Jake's Street for you guys (mostly just Skye finishing up the music, but once I get the music I'll probably see things I want to fix in the animation), Toby and I are planning to send MOJS to a TV station in Atlanta that's looking for original programming. Originally, this would just be fun to get me ad revenue and because CN's Georgia HQ is, like, the next street over so I could get some attention... But then Toby mentioned we could submit MOJS as a PILOT, and now I find my self getting excited over the prospect of getting my own little show! It would only be aired in Atlanta for the time being, but imagine it... I'm already quite a catch because I require no budget. And they'd probably force a budget on me, so I could hire other aspiring animators on deviantART! AND PAY MY ALREADY EXISTING CO-DTTAH-ERS! :D AH'M EXCITEDDD.

I like to think of a DTTAH show as a reversal of the common storyline of a loser who sees being popular as the goal at which they will find peace and rest. DTTAH is instead about Jake, who has ALREADY made his way to being the top dog in his school, and is instead striving to DESTROY all this piece now and bring some conflict back into his perfect lifeHere's the series premise I've written up for the pilot form:

"Don’t Try This At Home is the story of a little mutant boy who’s already lived the greatest adventure ever. Having saved the entire world at age 9, Jacob Nathaniel Hanson (or Jake) goes out of his way to make every day live up to excitement of that great day. Jake is joined by his best friend, Smit, who is a mutated talking frog, and Henchman, who Jake and Smit shifted to the good side during the day they saved the world. The trio is constantly and confusingly met by Madman, the man who tried to take over the world, and who they can never be entirely sure is going to be good or bad on any given day. With these four on the loose, there is bound to never be a normal day in the town of Near Midnight, Texas ever again."

Of course, nothing's official yet... but think! An episode all about Smit's fly addiction! 8D

More Thoughts on Voices and Such

About a year ago, I began devising Hoop-a-Joop and was meeting Erica for the first time. And now I've had a second visit with her and I'm trying to imagine my characters with voices. TIME FLIES, HUH? :D

Back in December, Erica worked at a store that constantly played a show called 'Peep and the Big Wide World' and she told me about how an awesome duck on the show (I love ducks) sounded like Dana Snyder (voice of Master Shake, Gazpacho, etc.). ...Quack was not voiced by Dana Snyder, but it DID sound like his kind of character, and the line she described to me sounded like the kind of annoying lovableness I want from Al's best friend, James. So since then I've been trying to listen to more and more Dana Snyder but most of his characters sounded too clearly old to be a good 11-year-old voice. BUT THEN LAST WEEK, I HEARD HIM ON THE VENTURE BROS. AS THE ALCHEMIST. The Alchemist had this voice that was capable of being calm, flamboyant, high pitched, and squeaky, but all in perfect balance. And I decided that is the Dana Snyder voice I want James to have.

SO I MADE THIS: http://animated.deviantart.com/art/Al-and-James-Discuss-WoW-132277302

I took part of a clip of The Alchemist (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nwLBOCm6eVM&feature=related) and part of a clip of Michael Cera as Evan in SuperBad (as you should remember, I decided Cera would be the perfect Al voice) and made it sound like they were both having a linear conversation. :D It's not the best thing I've animated, since it was made in the middle of production on a new DTTAH toon, but it's nice to see and hear my characters.

Also, I've been thinking of voices I love and been trying to find ways to get them into the series. Erica and I are thinking that H. Jon Benjamin and David Wain would both be teacher's at Al's school, and be a heavily-implied gay couple. IT'S A KID SHOW, so they can only be roommates, but you'll always know... And also, Emo Philips would be a guidance counselor/club moderator at the school. Not sure how far I want to go with Al's involvement in the newspaper club, but if it does become a big part of his life, then Emo's character would probably be his boss and quasi-role model.

DTTAH and Weeklings post!

TEN MINUTES UNTIL THE END OF THE MONTH AND I MISS THIS MONTH'S UPDATE.

The original DTTAH drawings:

(circa March 2005; Madman was drawn by Kevin C.)

(circa May 2005)

JAKE IN NEW DTTAH CARTOON I'M MAKING:

First Weeklings drawing (Circa May 2005):

Recovering From Second Erica Visit

It was an even better visit than last time, but there's always that period of depression after you're forced to separate. I'm doing better though. The pattern I'm noticing is that each visit from her makes me want to draw more Hoop-a-Joop stuff. The utterly incredible awesomeness that was Ed, Edd n Eddy's Big Picture Show was inspiring as well!

On the second to last night of Erica's visit, we watched her favorite movie, Juno. Now I keep making comparisons between Al and Bleaker and Mel and Juno. Today, while embracing my enjoyment of Michael Cera's acting, I realized that I want him to voice Al. I don't think Al would be written entirely like a normal Cera character, but his voice just seems perfect for him. And maybe Ellen Page could be Mel. Not as sure about that, but y'know. Just throwing ideas around.

Now here's two characters I wouldn't blame you for forgetting. I love the relationship between them, but I never draw them in Flash so you hardly ever get to see them. These are Jim's best friends: 5-year-old Esteban and 1-year-old Heriberto. Erica took a LOT of interest in Heriberto on our last day together, so now I'm thinking about all the cool things I could do with these characters. Esteban's kind of a jerky older brother, but Heriberto is clueless and sees it with fun with his brother. It's kinda the same relationship as Mike and James, except in this case, Al is there to prevent the damage Esteban could cause to Jim or Heriberto. I like that there's a character Al truely doesn't like. Not hatred, I guess, but at least he's not fond of him.

SORRY SORRY SORRY

I'm so sorry to have neglected you, blog-viewers. For what seems like the first time in my life, I've been going out and having fun with friends! I feel so alive and yet... so very needy now. XP After a while I'll get used to having friends and the shock of people enjoying my company and the feeling that I'm going to make them all hate me will wear off, I'm sure....

BUT, as I'm sure you know since you all watch my deviantART anyway, I've still been animating! Animating's been a real pain in the ass lately, though. My mouse is sooooo stupid. And I feel bad making fanimations now, so I'm trying not to put TOO much effort into them... I'm working on an Eddy video right now, actually! Without any color! Soon I'll be able to finish up my EEnE 10th Anniversary cartoon, but I don't know if it'll be on deviantART... It has some great animation, but I'm really nervous about how the subject matter will be responded to. It's kind of animated version of someone else's fanfic, so... it's not the kinda writing or subject I would normally do. But it is a 10-minute cartoon AND a 10th EEnEversary cartoon, and it could never hurt to have one of those...

Here's my Math animation on Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2y6LfCEK8bU
Here's my 'A Shocking Accident' animation on Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cw_mFMYPSjc

I would've liked to post some pictures, but I don't know if I've drawn anything new that you haven't seen. Still debating whether or not I should make a DTTAH cartoon, and whether or not it would be a weekly webseries or the next holiday special or what...

So Painfully Uneventful

I don't do anything on vacations. I can't. I try to focus and then I just drift away into watching Yu-Gi-Oh Abridged. I went to Kevin's house and had a loooooot of fun, but unfortunately for you guys, we didn't record anything. Looks like he's colleging in Rhode Island, while I stay here in New York, soooo... we'd better record some DTTAH before it's too late. XP

Good news is... my dog's alive! Buuuuut apparently I get my Crohn's Disease from the pet side of the family, because she has colitis (sort of a lesser form of Crohn's). XP

I've been developing the secret government in Hoop-a-Joop. Shouldn't say anything, but here's one cool thing I've managed to draw on this vacation!