Thursday, April 21, 2011

RetroVision Refresher Montage

Writer's Thoughts,
I was thinking for anyone who may not be familiar with RetroVision "To Dance On Air," here's a little montage...In this story one of the main characters, Emily Monroe, dreams of becoming a dancer. The other main character Roy S. Vera dreams of becoming a pilot.

In the current part of the story, Emily gets the part from a dancer that had to leave the show, but is struggling to get the routine. Meanwhile, Roy is ready to take his first flying lesson.

Here's a pictorial montage...Roy pondering his decision. Emily taking on the dance routine. New friends at the Cafe Jazz Theater and the dream voyage.
New video from "To Dance On Air" coming soon.

"To Dance On Air": Meet Roy

It was the stories of aviation heroes past that filled his dreams. That historic transatlantic flight of Charles Lindberg was etched on the monochrome screen of his mind.



Roy stood outside the fruit and vegetable market that his grandfather passed down to his father. Now, Roy was next in line to take over.
"That's my father's fruit basket." He said to his mother. "I'm going to fly."
He begged her not to tell. He would tell his father when the time was right. Roy let many 'time-was-right' moments pass.

How could he tell his father after that long, tender speech of how his grandfather built the business? His father's muscles flexing, eyes tearing. Such moments were rare. Roy knew this was something that ran deep. His decision would change the course of the river.

To fill his dreams, or, try to fill his father's shoes?

Just getting his father to let him work part-time at the air delivery port was hard enough. It happened one day, Mr. Crenshaw asked Roy to pick up some coffee from the Cafe Jazz. As Roy entered the cafe, he could hear the sound of music coming from the stage. He watched three figures dancing in sync. Well, almost. Two of the dancers were obvious professionals. The other appeared to struggle to stay in step. Who was she? He wondered, almost forgetting why he came. He lingered awhile. She continued to miss cues. He stood there, silently hoping for her to get the steps.

On the way back to the air delivery port, Roy continued to ponder the odd figure on the stage. The scene played over and over in his mind. A thought came to him. "She has the courage to prance around on stage like that. Surely, I can get the courage to tell my father...I'm going to fly." He would have to return to the cafe to cheer her on and say, "Thank you."
-Blendigo

Blog Redesign

Writer's Thoughts,
As part of the spring thing, I've been designing some new graphics for my blog. It started out quite simple, just redoing the top mast, or header. I landed somewhere between fun and sophisticated. These two words are usually mutually exclusive.  I mean, have you ever tried to have fun in a sophisticated way? Shout, quietly?  Make a mad dash, with style? Kinda tough. With my method of redesigning, one turn led to another. Out of the eight or so new headers, I have in mind...another. One idea was a ship for friends. A friend-ship. Get  it?

You'll be happy to know, progress is being made...I have new RetroVision "To Dance On Air" animated stills coming up.

I also wanted to show a scene from Czardas that I did not include in the previous video. If you saw the video, you may recall the trio of strange aircraft flying above the city. It was the aircraft that caused the character to fall off her flying board. When showing clips of a story, deciding which parts to edit in or out can make a huge difference in understanding the scene.

I'll get back to the projects, and get back with you all shortly.

Monday, April 18, 2011

A Better Photo

Writer's Thoughts,
Here's a clearer photo from "To Dance On Air." I will be posting more photos this week. Also, a new video will be coming up later.

This photo is titled "Emily Takes A Step." It's a scene of her first dance rehearsal. As I share more photos, I will write more about the upcoming scenes.

Monday, April 11, 2011

New Things For Spring

Writer's Thoughts,
Every season brings it's own particular list of things to do, it seems. The trademark of the start of the spring season is that wonderful time known as "spring cleaning." Well, maybe "wonderful" is a bit over the top.

This spring, my focus will be on animated music videos in a storytelling format. This will free me to concentrate more on the writing phase of the projects that I have started. Such as, "Candle Dance," among others. These are longer, more involved animated stories that are beyond my range to complete myself. If only I could be "Limitless!" Of course, my biggest love is creating pixeltunes.




I took another look at the "Herocity Beat" project and it's possible that I may take it the route of "To Dance On Air." Meaning, the characters may be in color. It's about striking a balance between the characters and their backgrounds. For example, in "To Dance On Air" I use more blue. The reason is, so the figures stand out. Looking forward to sharing more of these stories with you.

Thanks everyone!

Friday, April 8, 2011

RetroVision "Herocity Beat" Video

Writer's Thoughts,
This is the video from the RetroVision series "Herocity Beat." When I created the first version, I noticed that the tones that should have been more gray, were actually more green. So, I added a bit of tint to correct that problem.

"Herocity Beat" is somewhat different from "To Dance On Air." Style-wise, the look is more of a traditional 'cartoon' format. But I like mixing up the collection. The adjustment in the work process is like riding a motorcycle a mile, then, hopping on a bicycle, and back and forth. From monochromatic to full on color. Challenging and different, to say the least.

If you are familiar with Pop Art, it's a style that is known for it's use of graffiti. At times, I flow in a Pop Art vibe.

Here goes....


Thursday, April 7, 2011

Going With The Heart

Writer's Thoughts,
I absolutely love all styles of music. From R&B, Country, Rock, Jazz, and everything in between. Lately, I've been in a musical mode.  Okay. I'm always in a musical mode. Telling a story musically, to be more exact. I've also been 'jammin'' to some George Gershwin. Just like that, this week, I heard "An American In Paris" in my head.

After a long conversation with a trusted friend, the end affect was, "Go with your heart." I love so many different arts. Blendigo. It's hard for me to box myself in with a narrowly defined style or approach. In other words, artistically, story-wise, I can be all over the map. One day, images of running through a field of flowers. The next? Images of running through a maze of metal. See what I mean? I guess, that's mixing it up a little.

The 'coach voice' says, "Focus." The 'teacher voice' says, "Visualize." So, between the teacher and the coach, I'm focusing on what to visualize. So glad love is in the mix. It's not a matter of confusion. It's a matter of menu. You know, standing in line, looking up at all the flavors. Despite my method, the puzzle is showing a recognizable direction. Complete picture...coming soon.





I have been working on my RetroVison series of stories, and I'm very excited about the progress. The image I created above is from a story that chronicles the fictional lives of a group of musicians who decided to help save their city. I created this piece in more of a cartoon style. It's meant to be entertaining with a retro vibe. These guys can dance! You can check out the video I uploaded earlier this week....

Thank you for hanging out with me today.