It was completely by surprise that I stumbled onto all six pages of the original storyboards I drew up for my Film 203 animation class that I took in 2004. I honestly thought I'd lost them when moving and hadn't actually seen them in over five years.
I've previously shared the drawn backgrounds and actual film strip from this final project titled, Over at Grandpa's. What's also exciting is that I recently purchased a vintage 16mm projector (still on route) to try and capture some of my remaining film school shorts that I haven't been able to play. It's yet to be determined whether the film from this animation will hold up in the projector, but hopefully I'll be able to share some excerpts at the very least. For now, it's just cool to be able to look back at all the work that went into this claymation that I never even got a chance to screen.
Growing up in this province, it's easy to become jaded when you think you've seen it all before. The truth is, Alberta is a pretty incredible place to live and this recent promotional video from Travel Alberta features some absolutely stunning footage that helps to explain why. I honestly can't wait to rediscover some of the sites closer to home this summer, especially now that I already have plans to drive my Jaguar through the mountains in July.
For those who don't know, I've used an image I shot of a rooftop in downtown Medicine Hat as the backdrop for my opening production credit, as a design element in various forms on this blog, and even on my business cards - since shooting the original photo in 2006. Recently I returned to the roof of the parkade downtown to shoot a new variation of the image only to discover what you can see in my comparison shot directly below. The middle building has been demolished!
I can't say I blame anyone for doing it, as it looked like it was about to collapse when I took the first picture. It brings a new level of infamy to my original however, now that it can no longer be recreated. The old air conditioner has also disappeared, and it doesn't make for quite the composition it used to. Since I was there already I decided to shoot a few new images of what, for me, has become a fairly meaningful place.
More pictures of the rooftop pre-demolition here.
