Lost Animation

Back in 2004 I took an animation class where for my final project I ended up making a claymation project called Over at Grandpa's. The premise was simple: an old man goes to change a light bulb, shocks himself, and gets the energy to dance the day away. The project was completed, but I've only got a rough copy of it on film. I can't even transfer it because the film is so rough. It's kind of a shame, but I was thinking about all of this because last night I was going through some old picture CDs and actually found the scanned images of the backgrounds I had drawn. To clarify, the old man was plasticine and he pretty much just ran through these various scenes on his dancing escapade - it was a stop motion test really. Here's the proof the project even existed.

Update - You can view the film strip from this project here.

Film 486: Found Footage

I've done some pretty weird projects over the years and the found footage project that i did for my experimental film class is one of them. The idea was to use whatever footage you wanted and switch up the meaning, or tell a new story. My film, The Other Time Machine isn't difficult to understand, but it is kind of strange. Crazy to think that this project is nearly a year old now, but in any case, enjoy my experiment!

Back to Film School

It's officially September now, and a final year of classes is but days away. If I'd have gone home for the summer I would've moved back into College West (residence) yesterday (Aug. 31). I was lucky to escape moving, not just between home and school this time around, but within residence itself. 

I put up with a headache back in April when the residence office had me move ONE room over. Still no good reason for that decision. After another ordeal about a week ago (proof that the squeaky wheel gets the grease) I was allowed to keep my current room. It wasn't so much that I put up a huge fuss, I just begged and pleaded. Pitiful that I have to fight to NOT move when I'm already living here, but at least it worked.

To some extent there is a lot that I could say about how I'm feeling at the start of this year, but mostly it's just the same feelings I've had every year at this time. I'm excited, anxious . . . really I'm used to it all. School is still several days away so it's too early to say what's good and what's bad, but I will share with you my back to film school tradition.

Back in September 2002 I came to the University of Regina to start my first year of post-secondary education. The Buick (which wasn't mine yet) was packed to the brim with my stuff, and I was incredibly nervous. I didn't know anyone in Regina, but it felt great to finally be stepping out on my own. 

The first thing I did when I got to my dorm room was set up my TV and DVD player to watch a flick while I unpacked. September '07 marks the 6th year in a row (ya, time to graduate I know) that I've started off by watching (what has now become) my back to school movie: Dazed and Confused (1993).

To be honest, I think I chose to play this movie when I first moved in because I figured it would make me feel less nervous to realize that there was no way things were going to be as bad for me as they were for Mitch Kramer (one of the incoming freshmen). Dazed and Confused is a comedy about "the last day of school at a high school in a small town in Texas in 1976. The upperclassmen are hazing the incoming freshmen, and everyone is trying to get stoned, drunk, or laid, even the football players that signed a pledge not to". -IMDb

What can I say? Another year of school can leave you pretty damn Dazed and Confused, so I figured I might as well just start out that way. That movie helped me with my educational transition at the beginning, now it's helping me at the end. It's great for a laugh, and no, it's probably not the best message to live by. But, it is a good time and that's what I'll be looking for in my final year of university!