So--some stuff we're working on:
Pretty soon we'll start working on designing Jill Phillips' new album, Nobody's Got It All Together. Should be a great project. The theme of the record itself has me excited.
Today in the mail we're getting a trove of pics from Andrew Osenga to start piecing together for his new album. Koelle and I are salivating at the prospect of visualizing this.
Had fun doing a t-shirt design yesterday for Andrew Peterson's Behold the Lamb Christmas Tour. Now that was a fun break from whatever else I should have been doing. I'm by no means a master at that Nashvillian Hatch Show Print woodblock look, but it was fun trying to approximate it as well as possible.
Chris Koelle is working on some sample art for a new graphic novel that a publisher in NYC is hopefully pulling together.
Cory's doing some great advertising art for an educational company. Hopefully he can post it on his blog soon.
I'm having a lot of fun researching graphic design in a way I haven't been able to in a long time. We're learning a lot more about how trade covers are put together.
Tomorrow Chris, Matt Silver, and I will be heading to a brief meeting with Derek Webb to briefly meet about a potential book project. We shall see what happens with that idea. Once we get a publisher on board, I'll post more.
Today we installed SimpleViewer on our new individual artist sites, www.justingerard.com/gallery, christopherkoelle.com/gallery, and corygodbey.com/gallery.
Still working to really update the content and hopefully some HTML "style" to the pages, but it's a good start.
We've been using this rich treasure of hymns in our Bible study. This is a great site for PDF sheet music/lyric handouts for group singing. Many of the hymns that Indelible Grace produces are good updates to old hymns. Not that all of their new tunes are better than the old, but many are excellent alternate versions. Some of the better songs are The Love of Christ, God Be Merciful To Me, The Church's One Foundation, Thy Mercy, Laden With Guilt, and Let Us Love and Sing and Wonder.
Welcome to Julie Arsenault who is joining our Portland Studios team as a story editor! We're eager for her help on Cory's dragon story as well as other upcoming projects.
"I'd like to say to the good citizens of Dover: If there is a disaster in your area, don't turn to God. You just rejected him from your city," Robertson said on the Christian Broadcasting Network's "700 Club" regarding the Pennsylvania town that voted out the pro-intelligent design school board.
OK. Don't turn to God, then. Simple isn't it. You've used your chance, Dover, Pennsylvania.
Whatever.
A New Law
by Derek Webb
(I'm still mulling these lyrics over.)
Don't teach me about politics and government
Just tell me who to vote for
And don't teach me about truth and beauty
No, just label my music
And don't teach me how to live like a free man
No, just give me a new law
I don't wanna know if the answers aren't easy
So just bring it down from the mountain to me
I want a new law
I want a new law
Just give me that new law
And don't teach me about moderation and liberty
I prefer a shot of grape juice
And don't teach me about loving my enemies
And don't teach me how to listen to the Spirit
No, just give me a new law
I don't wanna know if the answers aren't easy
So just bring it down from the mountain to me
I want a new law
I want a new law
Just give me that new law
'Cause what's the use in trading a law you can never keep
For one you can that cannot get you anything
So do not be afraid
Do not be afraid
Rapunzel gets retooled.
This is the best news I've heard in a long time. This past August, Justin Gerard and I took a trip to SIGGRAPH 05 in Los Angeles, and also had a chance to visit Sony Pictures and Walt Disney Feature Animation. A fantastic trip overall. I really believe that our visit to those studios was a pivotal shift in our direction as a company. The effects even now are working their way out in the way are trying to run our business. Enough of that...
While we were meeting with Chris Sanders, the director of Lilo and Stitch (and the upcoming film An American Dog), he took us out in the hallway to show us some of the art on the walls from the films they were working on. I must say that pretty much everything Disney has going on in the animation department right now looks amazing. They really are pulling out all the stops. The work from Rapunzel was no exception. However, the idea of Glen Keane directing a "fractured" fairy tale--a Shrek-ish animated comedy--was a sad, if not repulsive idea. The very best art I was seeing was so good precisely because it was played "straight". The story is one that needs to take itself seriously. That sort of a film will play best to Glean Keane's strengths as a director, and will give Disney a chance to produce the sort of CG animated film that has yet to be done---an honest to goodness fairy tale, happy ending and all. Audience's are ready for this, it's what they are wanting. This is plain after reading reviews of many recent CGI films. The overwhelming exclamation among critics and moviegoers is---"Enough with the pop culture references already." Finally. They've had enough of the postmodern, insincere, jokey CG family flick. What people are finally wanting is another Beauty and the Beast. Chris Sanders (yes, even the master of insanely executed fast-paced comedic action scenes) stated this fact as well in our conversation. Yes, audiences want a REAL fairy tale. Here's hoping that Glen Keane's hiatus helps him pull it off.
We're starting on some sample pieces for some of the published books that will be done in association with next year's film, Monster House--a Zemeckis/Spielberg motion capture project. Justin and some of the other guys will be taking concept art and final frames from the film and integrate them into some original artwork based on the film. Should be a fun project. Hopefully it'll turn into more work.
Today we went to see Chicken Little as a group and then met later in the afternoon to critique the film. Some quickly scrawled thoughts:
The main character was likable.
The pig, Runt, worked REALLY well as a character design.
Foxy Loxy was a great character.
Some of the stock secondary characters lacked in design quality....
It would have played much better WITHOUT the pop rock soundtrack.
It would have been better to play the movie with the dad (and the missing mom) to accept him yet the whole world reject him.
It was funny that the pig liked oldies.
In the best films, the funny moments are VERY integrated into the story. Not breaks FROM the story.
Jamin liked the aliens as furry creatures.
It was a somewhat confusing opening sequence.
Brannon loved the baseball scene. Felt like Casey at the Bat or something from the 1940's at Disney.
The Incredibles is a very satisfying movie. This was not AS satisfying. When a movie is an out and out comedy it's harder for it to approach that sort of level of storytelling.
The first act was long. The baseball scene was too high of an emotional moment in the movie---it definitely (and probably intentionally) was built as almost two movies. The movie up to that point and then the movie AFTER the point of the baseball game.
Best line: "Go on without me. Leave some ammo, and some water, and some chips if you've got any..."
MANY MANY funny funny parts, but didn't necessarily hold together as a whole movie all that well.
The dodge ball scene worked really well.