The Felties: Set Design part three

Well, I wish the transformation was more spectacular. I guess this is more of a lesson in the subtleties of scenic design.

I vaguely remember a conversation I had with my set design professor in college. I was preparing a model of a set I designed for the American College Theatre Festival (ACTF) regional design competition. This set was a monolithic puke-pile of raised platforms and ramps that really "owned" the black-box theatre it was designed for. There was not much room for the actors backstage, and the audience was mere inches from the edge of the acting space.

redeeming an otherwise mediocre design were the stained-glass windows I designed and built (with help from Garrick and moral support from Pamela.) They hovered around the set, each one signifying a different locale. The icing on the cake was a very elegant lighting design by Rodney Fadely (where the hell are you, Rodney?) that added mystery and intrigue to an otherwise clumsy design.

Anyway, I tell the Prof. "You know, I think I may win this competition. My model looks great, with all these miniature stained-glass windows and working lights." The Prof. kind of shrugged and said "It's almost better not to win." His point was that a truly well executed design is never noticed. The audience accepts it so completely that they never have any attention on it. No attention = no awards.

This brief moment of college history is my way of saying the set design for The Felties is still pretty bland (or "subtle") at this point, but I consider the evaluation I did last time a success.

Here is the earliest sketch I can find for The Felties set (a.k.a. the "Svelte Felt Bachelor Pad.") Booooring.

So I did my Principles of Design evaluation long hand, in one of my composition notebooks. As I was writing, I had a mild epiphany: One of the consistent things about the Felties, puppet to puppet, is the basic silhouette. The upside-down "U".

So I did a little thumbnail sketch:



Like I said, not a very spectacular breakthrough.

Spanish arches! Of course! It unifies the design of the apartment with the design of the puppets!!! EUREKA!

I shared this breakthrough with Pamela, who promptly reminded me that I did name the apartment building "Casa de Manos", so Spanish-styling would only make sense. I kind of chuckled: I named it "Casa de Manos" because The Felties universe is very Southern California inspired (lots of Spanish names around here -- Los Angeles, San Diego, La Cienega, etc.) and "Casa de Manos" means "House of Hands" (The Felties are hand puppets.)

So next time, to wrap up this little mini-series, the finished design for The Svelte Felt Bachelor Pad. Will I just rip off the Three's Company set and be done with it? Perhaps ...

The Felties: Set Design part two

(See part one here.)

I left off at "stylistic consistency" and the Principles of Design. Then I turned off my computer and realized that this is turning into a freaking "Intro to Art" lecture. So we'll just skip over the part where I go on and on and on about how artistic design works, and get right down to the meat and potatoes: how all this applies to the set design for The Felties. (If you are interested in the art lecture, I recommend you read this article by John Lovett. The terminology is different from what I use here, but it'll give you the right idea. Googling "Principles of Design" will unearth a plethora of other articles on the subject.)

As I learned them, the Principles of Design are:

- Balance
- Contrast
- Focus
- Rhythm
- Unity

So I'm going to do a real brief evaluation of The Felties, using the Principles of Design as my guide:

- Balance: The Felties are very symmetrical, with occasional touches of asymmetry (Such as Mimey's beret.)
- Contrast: Very basic. Mimey has a very vertical shape, yet wears horizontal stripes. Contrasting colors are sometimes used (Pupsumoto's skin tone is pink and his armor is green). Very simple contrast, when employed.
- Focus: Their faces/heads. Mimey's head is almost as big as the rest of his body! This is the most expressive part of these puppets.
- Rhythm: (also "repetition" or "pattern") Patterns have been kept to a minimum on these puppets. Mimey wears stripes because he is a mime. Clownie wears a very simple star pattern. Pupsumoto's kimono has a very simple floral motif.
- Unity: Skin tones are all basic felt colors - pink, yellow, white, blue, grey, etc. The shape of the puppets is basically the same, with minor variations (the "upside-down 'U'"). Facial features are very simple; suggested rather than realistic.

Okay, so there is the evaluation. Now I'm going to take what I wrote above and design a set that is stylistically consistent with the design of the puppets (thus extending the "unity of design" to the environment The Felties inhabit!) Stay tuned, true-believers, for part three of this series!

DAHT news:

I'm officially calling this thing a bi-weekly series. One thing I've learned is it's damn hard to do an episode a week. Heck, I've only done four episodes in eleven weeks -- Bi-weekly is going to be a stretch! I think it's safe to say at this juncture that The Felties will not start out as a weekly series.

I have updated my "flagship" CafePress shop, DAL MOTION PICTURES, with official Disembodied Animal Head Merchandise!

In addition to the fine black t-shirt you see to the right, the site features a wealth of items sporting the Dal Motion Pictures Logo, and a couple of other DAHT tees bearing Tex's mug, as drawn by yours truly.

I can't produce DAHT (let alone The Felties) with just my charm and good looks. As much as I wish I could. As soon as I'm up to a decent number of episodes I'll start selling DVDs, but in the meantime, I need to buy some sound equipment and lights, build a set and rent a space in which to shoot The Felties. I'll have original art for sale on eBay soon, and there's also my children's book at Punk Rock Kids. I'm trying to open up my economic flows.

I can be a bit more candid here (this is a "behind the scenes" type blog) so there you go -- open honesty about finances. In the coming days I'll unleash my money-making schemes onto the DAHT site, couched in such a way that ... well, you'll see!

What Does It Mean?
In 1997, writer director Kevin Rubio unleashed upon the world a Star Wars fan film that spawned hundreds of other Star Wars fan films, and kicked off our modern age of internet video. Troops is the most significant fan film since the utterly insane Hardware Wars of two decades prior. It is a testament to the strength of "pro-am" content production (although to be fair, Rubio is far more "pro" than "am".)

So imagine my confusion at seeing this video lumped together with grilling tips and funny animal videos on the MSN homepage this morning. Go on, imagine it.

Maybe I should explain: Troops is as important to online video as Steamboat Willie was to feature animation. Yet here it is, being passed off as an AVERAGE piece of content. How so? It's being positioned alongside "Sasquatch Festival highlights" and "Attack of the vicious show cat" for crying out loud! This beacon of the media is being treated in a disposable manner (it's already off the MSN homepage.)

I'm glad that it's still getting some play, I'm just astonished at how shallow and superficial MSN is. Will the death of the internet be mindless opportunism? "Oh - a Star Wars parody! Our metrics indicate males 16-24 enjoy this sort of thing. It will improve our click-through and page impression numbers by a fraction of a percent! Ad revenue here we come!"

Yeah, I'm probably overreacting.

The Felties: Set Design part one

The Felties have a very simple design, and the world they inhabit should be an extension of that simplicity. As much as I'd like to set a puppet show in the Okefenokee Swamp, or backstage at the Moulin Rouge, I realize that most folks will be watching this thing on a two-and-a-half inch display. If the picture is cluttered with superfluous detail (or if the background has too much texture) the main action will get lost. Also, the more complex the picture, the bigger the file. The bigger the file, the longer the download, and the longer the download the greater the chance my potential audience member will click on through to something else.

The pilot episode takes place entirely in Mimey and Pupsumoto's apartment. (Yeah. It's another puppet series set primarily in an apartment.) The up side is, I can build a "box set", basically three walls that surround the action diorama style. Very simple. The downside is, box sets are boooring.

Curiously, although there is a wealth of information available online about how to build puppets, there is very little regarding how to create environments for those puppets to inhabit.

Any Henson geek knows that the way you build sets for puppets is to build them "up" (see first illustration.) Also, couches and chairs should be built without seats (see the second illustration) and "built up" to match the lower edge of the set walls. In fact, any set-prop that would normally sit on the floor has to be put on stilts, as it were (coffee tables, televisions, etc.) And now you know why you never saw Bert and Ernie's shag carpet!

The first illustration is a thumbnail sketch of what Mimey and Pupsumoto's apartment is going to look like. Like I said, boooring! The challenge is to extend the fun, zany design of the puppets to the environment around them. The answer lies in something called "stylistic consistency" and that has everything to do with the principles of design.

To be continued . . .

The Shoulders of Geniuses

Some thought for food:

The problem with the scientific power you've used is it didn't require any discipline to attain it. You read what others had done and you took the next step. You didn't earn the knowledge yourselves, so you don't take the responsibility for it. You stood on the shoulders of geniuses to accomplish something as fast as you could, and before you knew what you had, you patented it, packaged it, slapped in on a plastic lunch box, and now you want to sell it.

- Ian Malcolm, Jurassic Park,

screenplay by David Koepp

Every time you do something for the first time in your life, you're going to do a better job than other people who have done it before. You're aware of the most modern components. I was aware of the best chips that existed and used them for jobs for which they weren't intended.

- Steve Wozniak, Apple inventor,

interview with Hardy Green

of BusinessWeek

If others had not been foolish, we should be so.

- William Blake, The Marriage of

Heaven and Hell

There's this great concept called "time-binding". It's "the distinctive human ability to build on the accumulated knowledge of others" according to Alfred Korzybski originator of the term (and the concept, as far as I know.) I am very thankful to live in an age when I have the wealth of human knowledge at my fingertips. It helps make The Felties more than just a pipe-dream. The internet is truly a miracle.

God bless you, Al Gore.

Tex the Rubber Chicken

Did I say I had a "ton" of Tex pictures?

Oops. I have one:

For some reason, my little flash memory card didn't save the other pictures. That's right. It's not my fault, it's the flash memory card's fault.

So you see the oh so impressive bicycle brake. There. The curtain has been pulled aside and the illusion has been ruined for everyone. Yes kids, Tex is not a living, breathing, pompous, Shakespeare-mangling rubber chicken. He is an inanimate object brought to life by means of my gentle and expert manipulation.

The handle to which the bicycle brake is attached runs up through the puppet to his head. A thin plastic tube guides the fishing line through the body, which is stuffed with fiber fill.

Someday I'm going to contrive working wings. I think a simple mechanism like the one found in "boxing" type toys. Like this one:



I figure I can drop the thumb triggers down so that the index finger operates the mouth and the thumb operates the wings. That leaves my left hand free to hold my beer.

In the words of Jesus Christ, "It is finished."

My small backlog of "Up to Bat" comics has been uploaded over at www.uptobat.blogspot.com. I'm going to attempt to make this a weekly thing, but you know how that goes ("Disembodied Animal Head Theatre," anyone?)

Speaking of DAHT, I also have episode four uploaded to www.daht.blogspot.com. Why did it take so long, you may ask? The truth of the matter is, my collection of animal grabber toys is very limited at the moment. I've been just about everywhere trying to find more, but no one carries them. Correction: They have them at the zoo, but I'm not sure I want to pay $10 admission just to buy $5 worth of cheap, plastic toys (although I've spent more than that in gas money trying to find a store that sells them.) So I concocted this whole "labor dispute" plotline to excuse the fact that I don't have a full ensemble at my disposal.

(On a related note, I'm curious how many people thought that I had more than just the giraffe and flamingo? I tried to create the illusion of a much larger cast, and I wonder how successful I was in that attempt. Let me know?)

You may also note that Tex's mouth doesn't work so well in the better lit shots of episode 4. Yeah. His mouth has lost most of its elasticity so I installed a piece of ribbon elastic to keep his mouth closed. I have a ton of Tex pictures that I'll post later on today (cross you fingers and hold your breath!) that show his construction in more detail. Trust me, seeing that bicycle brake sticking out of his ass is pretty impressive.

I'm still learning much from this mad, rubber chicken-involved experiment. For instance, the importance of matching lighting between shots. Watch episode 4: the mismatch between shots is glaringly bad. Pun intended. I'm very proud of the edits in terms of matching action (I taped the full-shot on Thursday and the close-up on Saturday.) If Tex's mouth had been working right and if the lighting had been more harmonious, I think the whole thing would come off seamlessly.

Oh yeah ... after I put together episode 2, I noticed that the black and white inserts looked hand held (I was moving Tex back and forth towards the camera.) So in episode 4, look for a slow "dolly in" on Tex towards the end of the monologue (really just me moving the puppet closer to the camera.) Stupid simple, and subtly effective.

Well, as subtly effective as a rubber chicken performing Shylock can be!

Seth Godin on MySpace and website traffic.

After giving us a graph of daily pageviews, which shows MySpace completely trampling Amazon, Seth makes the following observation:

The problem here is that Amazon users visit to buy stuff, and MySpace users visit to flirt.

Last time I checked, flirting was a fairly unprofitable activity.

Here here! It's so easy (for me) to look at something megalithic in popularity and go almost catatonic with overwhelm. It's important (for me) to remember that we're living in a "long tail" world, and it's more important to create content that resonates with a few people, than ephemeral drivel that hits high like a wacky wall-crawler only to disappear leaving a Macarena-like echo in its wake.

To put it clearly, as Seth goes on to say:

Whatever your website, I think you want better traffic, not more traffic.

You want to figure out why the right people will come, not build a sideshow that attracts exactly the wrong people.

Now, I love sideshows, but I get the man's point.

HOUSECLEANING:

Since The Felties is finally taking flight, I've decided to devote this blog full-time to the eponymous project.

Relax: My ponderous pontifications on play production shall continue at www.madtheatrics.blogspot.com. I wanted to use "www.emptyspace.blogspot.com" or "www.theemptyspace.blogspot.com" but as you can see, those names were taken. Drat!

As for all things of a deep and personal nature (you know: obits for friends and pets, complaints about college courses I take, etc.) I'm not sure if I want to continue blogging that sort of thing anyhow. We'll see what happens.

So there you go!

CHRISTMAS

I met with puppet builder extraordinaire Russ Walko last night for the great Felties hand-over. I now have most of the cast in my possession, and let me tell you . . . I am pumped!

Russ did an incredible job.

The above gives you an idea of how Mimey evolved from my first prototype to a more finished prototype. Well, I have the final version of Mimey ("Mimey 3.0") in my possession, and believe me when I say it is a cut above the last prototype. The same is true of all the characters. I can't believe how comfortable and expressive these puppets are! Brand spanking new puppets typically have a certain stiffness to to them. Not so with these babies - these puppets feel broken in, like a pair of well-worn Levis. And the look . . . I'm proud to say we've done something different. These ain't Muppet clones!

So . . . Would you like to see a picture of the completed Felties?

You're gonna have to wait for the world premiere of The Felties this summer. (Unless Russ posts pictures on his website, which I hope he does. He hammered these out of the ball park, and has every right to crow about it.)

First day of production is on May 20th.

It's okay - I'm still alive.

I have the second of three HUGE exams coming up in my cinema class, I completed the play for the play contest, I have production meetings scheduled this week for The Felties (Yay!), I'm trying to track down a cheap (or free) studio, and I need to finish a first draft of Sonny, the play I'm planning on producing in July! Oh yeah - I need to do a few more episodes of Disembodied Animal Head Theatre.

By the way . . . does anyone out there have a line on a studio (or just a relatively quiet room with electricity) for free (or cheap)? I want to shoot on Saturday afternoon, 20 May 2006. I figure if other bloggers can find true love, free houses and millions of dollars (all true) THIS blogger may be able to find a free (or cheap) place to shoot. Yes, I am calling upon the awesome power of the internet, as I lift my power sword above my head and cry out "BY THE POWER OF GREYSKULL . . . I HAVE THE POWER!"

Let me know, okay? andrewmoore_AThotmail.com

I'm hanging in there.

There's just not enough time in a day.

DEEP THOUGHTS . . . with Seth Godin

Seth writing positively about PROCESS, a.k.a. having and using standard actions, metrics, procedures, etc.

He says: "Process is your ace in the hole when your intuition stops working."

Artistically, nothing could be more true. You've heard of "writer's block" no doubt. The surest fix I know of is to just write. Write whatever. Write haiku in Klingon about boogers. Write an essay about what it was like growing up as a young girl during the Great Depression. Or go ahead and plow on further into your novel/play/screenplay/whatever, realizing that you very well may scrap every word you write later on. The Muse has a siphoning action; If you can get the ball rolling, it will soon snowball out of control!

Back to Seth: "If process makes you nervous, it's probably because it threatens your reliance on intuition. Get over it. The best processes leverage your intuition and give it room to thrive."

I couldn't agree more!

In her book "The Creative Habit"famed choreographer Twyla Tharp introduces the concept of "preparing to be creative". She may not have originated the idea, but she sure put it in easy to understand language. As I recall, the idea is to practice your technique and work towards perfecting it. It may seem tedious (say, practicing your grande jete over and over and over) but studious practice can spark off new ideas. At the very least it prepares you for when inspiration does take hold!

Torrid Affaire grew almost entirely out of process. I wrote up the plot on index cards, arranged them in an order that made sense, and wrote straight through using the cards as my guide. Occasionally, I'd skip a card and come back to it if I wasn't sure what to write. The point is, I used the process to leverage my intuition, and cranked out a fairly decent play in a couple of weeks.

I'm learning to not fear process now. One of my mentors once told me that talent will only take you so far. A competitor who has their technique down will easily pass you up on the road to success, if you depend on talent alone. But talent plus technique . . . that's unstoppable!

My new motto:




(Thanks to Hugh Macleod.)

Up To Drew
Originally uploaded by scrapsflippy.

Can you even "lead a horse to water" anymore?

I just don't know.

I work weekends at a coffee shop in Studio City. I got the job a couple of years ago when I was between gigs, and haven't had the heart to quit; I love the place, the customers, my co-workers, and my boss.

Anyway, every other Sunday for the past year and a half, I've posted a comic strip featuring an opinionated bat (it's cleverly titled "Up To Bat") at the register. At the register. This is PRIME real estate! Don't take my word for it, look at the picture! Last Sunday, I kept a mental tally, and of all the customers serviced during my shift, only about 10% of seemed to notice the strip, and of those about half actually read it.

This poses an interesting problem, particularly for one (me) who wishes to provide entertainment content on the "internets". If I can't get 90% of customers to notice something RIGHT NEXT to the "total due" display on the register, how do I get someone to notice my crappy little puppet videos?

Actually, it's a bit of a progressive problem:

1) How do you get someone to LOOK
2) How do you get them to stick around long enough to CONSUME the content
3) How do you get them to then TAKE ACTION of some sort of another

(By "Take Action" I mean anything like posting kudos [or even "you suck"] on a message board, buying merchandise, sending the link to a friend, etc.)

I really don't know! I understand the basic mechanics of marketing. I've read my Seth Godin.

Hmm.

To be continued, I guess.

And now for the latest installment in the increasingly incorrectly titled series:
Tuesday's Artists I Love

Shelby and Shannon. (And by extension, Sound and Fury, although I haven't seen them perform yet as a troupe.)

So one day last winter I got a bad hankering for the Renaissance Faire experience. Mead, turkey legs, jousting . . . I'm sure you know what that craving feels like. Pamela and I went to Scarborough Faire twice in our youth and had an absolute blast (although the second trip involved me replacing the starter in our '78 Mustang II in a downpour). I Googled "Renaissance Faire" and "Los Angeles" and found The Renaissance Pleasure Faire at the picturesque Santa Fe Dam Recreational Facility.

Pamela and I made the jaunt out last Sunday (4/9/06) and had a goode olde tyme! It fills me with shivers of delight to reflect on how marvelous the whole Ren Faire scene is. I would like to be a part of that scene as a performer, but it occurs to me like any other venue, it helps to have at least a toe in the the scene. In other words, I don't know how likely it is a long-established Ren Faire is going to book "Sir Andrew and his Marvelous Punch and Judy Extravaganza!" for its worldwide debut. Maybe I'm wrong. Faire folk seem pretty easy going.

Anyway . . . We're on our way out (Pam had her pole class that night) but I don't want to leave just yet. I see this feisty dude yelling "Come see the best show in the Shire! Pyramus and Thisby, for your viewing enjoyment . . ." or something like that. I says to Pam "Hey, do you want to catch one last show before we head out?" She asks what show, I tell her it's "Pyramus and Thisby" and she says "Oh yeah. I wanted to see how they handle Shakespeare." We buy a cookie and take an aisle seat.

I have seen and participated in plenty of outdoor performances, many of them not that good. Amusement parks, Ren Faires, Zoos . . . these are not ideal venues. The environment is loud and chaotic. The audiences attach no value to the performances (they are essentially free performances), and so feel free to come and go during the shows. There are few things worse than a transient audience. Add to this scenario struggling artists who are perhaps a bit tired of doing the same shtick over and over and over, and you have a recipe for crappy theatre.

Ah . . . but every now and again something miraculous happens: An audience arrives eager audit, and the performers arrive eager to perform. Both sides of the equation are there to have a good time, and thus a good time is had by all! This was certainly the case on Sunday (although I believe that Shelby and Shannon could drag a good time out of the surliest of audiences.)

And so it was that our noble tespians preseted THE TRAGEDY OF PYRAMUS AND THISBY, the play-within-a-play from A Midsummer Night's Dream. Two star-crossed lovers speak back and forth through a hole in a wall, schedule a clandestine meeting, and wind up committing suicide. He thinks she was eaten by a lion, and so stabs himself. She finds his lifeless form and follows him to an untimely and tragic demise. (Stupid Shakespearean star-crossed set, skewering selves and slinging sentience southward to Styx.)

The performance was very energetic and engaging. The humor was bawdy and dirty in places, but in a good, old-fashioned "Looney Toons" kind of way (i.e. I'm certain the kids and the adults were laughing for different reasons at times.) Shelby and Shannon really involved the audience in the performance, which is so important. (Pamela was even enlisted to play the wall!) Our thespians were quite professional and pretty freaking polished for this style of theatre.

The larger group of which they are a part, Sound and Fury, is previewing Sherlock Holmes and the Saline Solution in L.A. this weekend. Pamela and I are planning on being there.

If you're in the area, you should be, too!

Updated . . .

I passed the test . . . I got an "A"!

My "Understanding Motion Pictures" instructor, Prof. Joe Daccurso, is a very severe examiner yet a very humane grader. Clearly, the better one studies, the better one will do on the test. And believe me, this is not a test you can slide through like Gumby slides through books. I know quite a bit about this; I've ice skated through more than my fair share of tests. Yet it's comforting to know that you'd have to try really hard to totally bomb out.

Prof. Daccurso is not a sadist, despite the impression he tries to put over when it comes to the exam. He builds it up to be virtually Abu Ghraib-esque. It is, as I noted in the earlier posting on this subject, quite arduous. It's a marathon of a test! But for every yang there must be a yin, and Prof. Joe provides this yin in the form of very helpful study materials made available in the library and learning center. Prof. Joe is like a Dad who waits up by the front door for a curfew-breaking daughter, but leaves the back door unlocked. The key thing in a situation as benevolent as this is to not screw it up by abusing the benevolence. (This, by the way, is why benevolent governments and management structures hardly ever work. It only takes one person pissing in the pool to have the whole damn thing locked down. Why can't people just "be cool"?)

Something Prof. Daccurso said last night after passing out our grades really hit me right. He said that he's very interested in our conceptual understanding of the material, rather than rote regurgitation. Rote regurgitation is easy. Memorize some names and dates, spit it all out verbatim, and you pass! Yay! You can't remember it fifteen minutes later, but good on you anyway! Conceptual understanding though . . . ahhh. That's like changing your own personal mental "registry". Conceptual understanding affects how you think and perform. Rote regurgitation is good for a pat on the head and maybe a cookie. I am very pleased that Prof. Joe is the kind of teacher who teaches toward application rather than mere scholarship.

Well, I worked my ass off for this exam, and it shows. And now, to paraphrase Sun Ra, "What am I gonna do now I ain't got no ass?"

Study for the next one.

Seth Godin's Blog & My Two Cents

Seth writes:

"The worst thing you can do is be boring and vague.
"The second worst thing you can do is be boring and verbose and obvious."

The third worst thing you can do is be hyperbolic yet oblivious.

Jim Henson used excessive hyperbole over and over and over as a source of comedy - Sam the Eagle's pronouncements, every Muppets Lab invention unveiled, etc. It's even in the theme song: "The Most Sensational, Inspirational, Celebrational, Muppetational . . ."

My favorite bit of hyperbole in the "real world" is when at this time of year movie studios release what they call "The most highly anticipated movie of the year." Dude. It's April.

Or how about "The New #1 Hit Show in America" that hasn't even premiered yet? I heard radio ads for Heist claiming this amazing ratings feat (which must somehow involve TiVo and a time machine) in the days leading up to its premiere.

Audiences aren't stupid. This isn't the 1950s. You can't tell us something is the best, most impressive, most eagerly anticipated, groundshaking, life-changing toothpaste (or whatever) and not expect a wry grin and a raised eyebrow. And maybe a chortle, suppressed of course so you don't know that we know that you're full of crapola.

There is a place for such exaggeration . . . when it's accurate. Of course then it wouldn't be hyperbolic, it'd just be descriptive ("The Most Watch Comedy In America" "The Safest Car on the Road".)

I wonder though . . . even if some huge claim turns out to be justified, do audiences even care?

"Honey, come quick! The New #1 Hit Show in America is on!"

Tuesday's Artists I Love

(Yeah yeah, it's late. So sue me.)

Today, J.C. Macek III, a.k.a. World's Greatest Critic.

Yeah, that's right. I'm profiling a self-proclaimed critic as an artist I love.

J.C. is is an artiste, an example of life as art (anyone who goes as all-out as he does on his Halloween costume each year can't be anything but an artiste.) He is another artistic "Buckaroo Bonzai" to boot. He's a good friend, a great sounding-board, a rascally co-conspirator, and a damn fine writer. He acts, he sings, he plays music, and he's a radio personality.

His witty reviews of film, television, and music reveal a very able audience member who actually enjoys being entertained. In L.A. it's very cool to be cynical towards everything. I'm so sick of having to defend something like "Resident Evil 2" as a good movie (N.B. - not as a brilliant work of cinematic art.) J.C. seems to get the distinction between art and good ol' entertainment, and reads as a movie lover, rather than a "sour grapes" prick who delights in flaying alive earnest-yet-misguided filmmakers. That's not to say he doesn't call a turd a turd. I just appreciate that he is willing to acknowledge the tiniest speck of gold to be found in even the brownest of turds. (He's better at metaphor than me, too.)

J.C. is also damn brilliant. To hear or read him riffing on some aspect of art or culture is a treat. Earlier this year he presented his "Dead Man of the Year Award" which is both hilarious and educational. He presented the award to Willis O'Brien the special effects man behind the original King Kong.

Check him out!

The class I'm taking at Los Angeles Valley College is exactly what I needed.

As you may recall, steadfast reader, It dawned on me while working on Torrid Affaire earlier this year that theatre is my "fall-back position" mostly because I have such a highly valued (by me) education in said subject. It stands to reason that if I were to engage in a course of study in filmmaking, my "fall-back position" could then become filmmaking. Also, as a student I would have access to equipment, crew, editing facilities, etc. all for the price of tuition (which is not that much at LAVC, as it turns out.)

Well, I certainly am learning!

Learning Cinema is like learning a foreign culture. It has its own language, its own history, its conventions and traditions. My instructor, Prof. Joe Daccurso, is a skilled and enthusiastic tutor of this strange culture. He's been around for a significant portion of its history (he went to school with Lucas and taught Zemeckis, to give you an idea) and he is a filmmaker himself.

He is also one hell of an examiner.

To say Prof. Joe's exam kicked my ass would be a bit of a misstatement: as I told Pamela, the exam experience was somewhere between waiting on line at the DMV and routine dental cleaning. It was arduous. Not wholly unconfrontable (although I had exam nightmares leading up to the day of the test) but certainly a marathon of cinematic knowledge demonstration. The test I took is essentially the first third of the final exam, and it counts for a quarter of my final grade. (I like that he breaks down the exam into manageable chunks. The subjects covered last Wednesday night won't be covered again in an exam.)

To his credit, Prof. Joe makes available study materials that truly prepare you for the exam. I've never felt more prepared for an exam in my life. So how did I do? When I get my grade back next week, I'll let you know.

Drew Update

Hola mis amigos , de Los Angeles, hogar a muchos immigrantes!

First, there has been a new episode of Disembodied Animal Head Theatre available for a few days now. Episdoe 3 will be along this weekend.

I had a huge exam last night in my film class. When I get the chance, I'll fill all fourteen of you in on how it went.

I know I've been slacking on the "Tuesday's Artists I Love." It's sort of been "Every-other Tuesday's Artists I Love" or "Whatever Tuesday I Get Around To It . . ." you get the point. I'll update it . . . probably on Friday.

Pamela is a blogomaniac. I should have her ghost-write for me.

I have a couple of big playwrighting deadlines coming up . . . more about that later.

And what about The Felties? The reason for this whole stupid blog? You got me. Actually, DAHT is proving to be a good training ground for learning what the hell I'm doing. I want to do more with Timmy Tubesock, as that better establishes Pamela and me and our wacky sense of humor in the very important online community of puppeteers. Also, I desperately need to meet up with my puppet builder and see how everything is going. In short, I'm working on a few great "zero step" projects, and need to reorganize my life a bit to get the first episode of The Felties shot.

I'd like to present the storyboards for the opening scene here . . . give all fourteen of you loyal readers a first look at the episode. Hmmm . . .

Anyway, I promise I'll try to be a better blogger.

(Aw damn. I should have joked about giving up blogging for Lent. Shoot. Too late now.)

NEWSFLASH: ANDREW MOORE COMPLETES PROJECT

Los Angeles, CA -- Defying rumors that he is full of hot air, Andrew Moore completed, edited, uploaded, and blogged the first episode of his new one-man webseries, entitled "Disembodied Animal Head Theatre".

"It was really hard work. I mean, Tex [the rubber chicken host] alone took three takes to get right. Not to mention all the lines I had to memorize for all the different characters. Editing took all of one hour. To tell the truth, I don't think I was emotionally prepared for this amount of work. By the grace of dog [sic], I somehow made it through."

Although there is speculation that laziness and procrastination will set in and he will not continue to post new episodes on a weekly basis, Moore remains optimistic: "Come on, what else am I going to do with my liberal arts degree? Get a teaching job? Seriously though, I love Shakespeare and "Disembodied Animal Head Theatre" gives me a chance to pay my respect to The Bard in a deeply personal way."

Andrew Moore is working on three hundred forty-seven other projects at the moment, including two other puppetry series, "The Felties" and "Timmy Tubesock".

"Disembodied Animal Head Theatre" can be found at www.daht.blogspot.com.

Tuesday's Artists I Love

Quintron and Miss Pussycat are an eclectic and artistic couple out of New Orleans that make Pamela and I look Wonderbread plain. Seriously. We're talking whimsical with a capitol "H".

And I totally dig that about them! It's not just that they're off the wall (by now it should be obviously I have a fondness for artists who are "off the wall") it's that they are very good at what they do. I truly, truly, truly admire their commitment to their art.

First - Quintron. He's an organist specializing in . . . egad. I don't know how to even describe it. Lounge/ambient/dance music? Lo-Techno? If you'll listen to his stuff, maybe you can tell me. All I know is, it appeals to that part of me that salivates over super 8 cameras and yearns for dusty old used-book stores. (One day, some smart independent filmmaker will ask Quintron to compose music for his creepy little southern-gothic suspense film, and it'll ROCK.) He's also the inventor of DRUM BUDDY, a kind of manual/electronic drum machine. (Anyone who invents a music instrument is instantly god-like cool in my book.)

Next, Miss Pussycat. Growing up there seemed to be a real difference between the puppets on "Mr. Roger's Neighborhood" and "Sesame Street"? I'm not talking about the obvious differences. I'm talking about something far more sublime. With the Muppets, it's easy to forget they are inanimate objects brought to life by talented performers. With the denizens of the Neighborhood of Make-Believe, you had to more actively put it out of your mind. Hell, every last puppet sounded like Mr. Rogers! Especially the female characters! (Lady Elaine Fairchild, anyone?) Miss Pussycat's puppetry is on that Mr. Rogers level. It feels like a show, and that underused part of your mind reserved for the "suspension of disbelief" kicks into high gear and you find yourself totally engrossed. She has produced a couple of puppet videos, "North Pole Nutrias" and "The Electric Swamp". You can see clips from "The Electric Swamp" here.

The latest project from Quintron and Miss Pussycat is a CD/DVD release entitled "Swamp Tech". The CD is Quintron, the DVD is Miss Pussycat's "The Electric Swamp". BUY IT! SUPPORT THESE NEW ORLEANS BASED ARTISTS!!!

I've just barely scratched the surface of how cool this dynamic duo is. (They also are part of a 10 year-old Mardi Gras marching band!) Explore their sites, and get to know them!

Here are a few things I'd like to draw your attention to:

My wife Pamela posted an interesting blognition about the lives we choose to lead. Good stuff!

Canadian Andrew found an interesting graph that explains "How to be an expert". Check out Andrew's commentary and observation on the difference between the Muppets and everyone else.

Finally, I am really digging the work of cartoonist Hugh Macleod. I've referenced him twice here regarding his ideas rather than his drawings. I don't know why, this guy just really speaks to me.

Pontification Is Easier Than Production

From Hugh Macleod's blog (3/01/06), an observation about blogs as tools:

because you can't live in a hammer

Blogs are like hammers. They are tools for building stuff.

When you talk about building a house with a carpenter, you don't mind him talking about his hammer for a while. Nobody minds indulging a craftsman, within reason.

"This hammer is great for this," he'll gush.

"This hammer is great for that..."

So you think yes, hammers are good things, and indeed his hammer looks like a particularly fine example.

But eventualy you're going to interrupt his joyous ode to hammers. After a couple of minutes
you're going to abruptly change the subject:

"Cool. Now let's talk about the ACTUAL HOUSE you're going to build for me..."

And if the carpenter is any good, he won't have any problem with that.

It's easy for me to comment on what I have planned with The Felties. Carving out the time to do the things that result in an actual product is a bit more difficult.

Tuesday's Artists I Love

Today - Jim Meskimen.

Okay, here it is. Why the hell isn't Jim accepting Golden Globes for best comedic actor in a series? Honestly! Not only is he one of the most talented impressionists and improvisational actors out there, he also has the work ethic of a coal miner. No joke!

You know Jim, but you probably don't realize it. He's the voice behind Jib Jab's most famous offering ("This Land".) He's been in dozens of commercials. If you're lucky, he may even be the face of your local supermarket chain! He's been on The Fresh Prince of Bel Air as three different characters (which is a testament to his skill and his work ethic.) He's done feature films, television, radio, internet . . . you name it! He's also a fine artist and cartoonist. He studied oil painting under a master in Spain, and did concept art on the old Thundercats series! He's a "Buckaroo Bonzai"!

(The greatest compliment I've been paid as a voice-over artist is to be called "Jim Meskimen, Jr." I was very flattered, but in truth I'm nowhere near that good.)

Jim has a couple of comedy albums for sale. I have "Jim and Tait: Two Minds Empty, No Waiting" and highly recommend it. Also, check out his site. Enter his "caption this cartoon" contest. Take a look at his fine art portfolio.

Really, just take a look at Jim. He's a great guy, very giving and fun.

How to be Creative

I recently stumbled upon www.gapingvoid.com. The author, Hugh Macleod seems like a great guy, and I've enjoyed reading his stuff.

He has an essay posted entitled "How to be Creative" that I highly recommend.

Here's a nice little excerpt:

"6. Everyone is born creative; everyone is given a box of crayons in kindergarten.

"Then when you hit puberty they take the crayons away and replace them with books on algebra etc. Being suddenly hit years later with the creative bug is just a wee voice telling you, 'I’d like my crayons back, please.'

"So you've got the itch to do something. [. . .] You don't know if you're any good or not, but you'd think you could be. And the idea terrifies you."

Great stuff.

He also has a neat bit about what he calls the "Global Microbrand." This gets to the heart of what I envision for The Felties. I've been calling it my "Global Media Mini-Empire" but the idea is the same. It's all tied into something called "The Long Tail."

More on "Disembodied Animal Head Theatre"

Meet Tex, the Rubber Chicken.

He's a rod puppet; his mouth is operated by a fishing line that feeds through a tube inside his body down to a bicycle brake on the handle. (You can see the fishing line at the top of his red bow tie.)

December 2003, I was cleaning up my props after another stellar performance in acting class. The teacher had called a fifteen minute break, so I had plenty of time to spare after throwing all my crap in a box. The last prop in was my rubber chicken. I noticed that by pinching in the corners of his mouth, I could make his mouth open and close. As it was December, and I was in a holiday mood, I had the chicken sing "What Child is This?" in a booming baritone.

For the next two weeks, I followed Pam and the dogs around the house, singing various Christmas carols (and the occasional rousing "Dreidl Song".) I named him "Tex" (short for "Latex".) I decided to do a mock-commercial for "Tex sings Your Favorite Christmas Songs!" on CD and cassette.

As a character, Tex is a great study in comic contradictions. He's a rubber chicken; a cheap comic prop. He's also a comedy legend with a long and illustrious career, having worked with some of the greatest comics of all time. He has a rich baritone voice, and is obviously a cultured individual.

So there you have it: the host of "Disembodied Animal Head Theatre"!

I received the news on Saturday morning that a friend and collaborator of mine took his own life on Friday the 17th.

I'm vacilating between anger and disappointment. (Two sides of the same coin for me, really.)

My friend had everything going for him. The last time I saw him, he was in great spirits and optimistic about the projects he was working on. He was set to teach a class on succeeding as an actor, he was opening a coffee shop, and we were putting together a book for release this coming winter.

All of his work is done on the book. (He was writing, I am doing the art.) I know that I must finish the book, otherwise it'll hang around my neck for all the days I have left. I just don't know what to do with it once it's done.

Life goes on, no matter how bleak things may seem. Fortune shifts like the wind. Each new day is a chance to get it right. And even when the shit is piled so high there seems no way to dig out, there are friends and family willing to extend a hand or give a boast. I just wish Jimmy had seen that.

Where was I?

Last week, I started work on "Disembodied Animal Head Theatre" a weekly video blog that I can do pretty much solo. It is hosted by Tex, the Rubber Chicken and features a repertory ensemble of animal snapper puppets.

The idea is to bring culture to the internet by way of excerpts from classic literature performed by (drumroll please) disembodied animal heads. Basically, it's what a cable access show would look like if I had one back in high school.

I'll have the first one up next Monday. Stay tuned.

(And I'll talk more about the host in future blogs.)

Goodye, old friend

My Very Own Precious Holly Pongo Moore
Originally uploaded by scrapsflippy.

This morning, at about 6:30, our dear friend left her body.

She was eleven and a half.

She had health problems for quite a while. For a long time she suffered from seizures. A few years ago we took her to a nutritionist/chiropractor who prescribed a treatment of supplements and diet that all but ended her seizures. In the past year Holly had developed some tumors on her chest and belly. Her health roller-coastered, but she always fought back. In the end she developed an infection that her tired immune system couldn't best.

She was a pain in the ass from the moment we first got her home. She never really took to "potty training", ate through pockets to get to forgotten pieces of candy, and generally made life more "interesting" in the old Chinese curse sense. She loved tearing through doors, eating up leather boots, and stealing food off your plate when you weren't looking. She even bit me. A couple of times.

It was worth it.

There's no love sweeter than that of a dog. They forgive everything, demand nothing, keep you warm when it's cold, and give you comfort when you're sick. The least we can do is reciprocate. I'm happy that in the last days of her life, Pamela and I did.

Her full name was "My Very Own Precious Holly Pongo Moore." We found her on a cold winter's night in the back of a pick-up truck outside of a Wal-Mart in Arkansas. We took her home, and she took our hearts.

She was and is loved.

Back to school! Back to school
To prove to Dad that I'm not a fool!
I got my lunch packed up, my boots tied tight
I hope I don't get in a fight!
Ohhhh, back to school!
Back to school! Back to school!

- Adam Sandler, from Billy Madison

You heard it here first folks, I'm back in school.

A month ago I made the following observation in my posting entitled "The Middle of the Affaire":

"My biggest resource . . . and I can not emphasize this enough . . . is my education. Perhaps if I had gone to film school, I would've made a movie. Well, I went to theatre school, so I made a play."

It wasn't just an observation, it was a realization -- an insight into why I feel like there's this huge wall between me and effective video production. (There really should be some sort of a catchy neologism for "realizations or insights you have while blogging." Maybe "blognition"?) Currently, my artistic "fall back position" is theater. I can make good theater in my sleep. I want cinema to be my fall back position!

Thus the decision to pursue the Cinema degree program at LAVC.

(On a side note, I often bitch and moan to my wife about how I miss having access to a "Union House" quality theater; full scene shop, costume shop and make-up studio etc. Our college experience may have been a bit rocky at times, but we had access to amazing tools and facilities, all for the price of tuition. Studying Cinema, I'll be able to get my grubby hands on the tools of the trade, I'll have ample time to feel things out and figure out what I'm doing, and I'll have the resources to create to my heart's desire. Hey -- it worked for learning theatre!)

So there. This changes nothing as far as The Felties is concerned; I'm pushing ahead with production. This is more of a "me" thing. Call it "self-improvement through higher education."

Tuesday's Artists I Love

Pamela Moore
Originally uploaded by scrapsflippy.

I'll never forget that autumn evening I picked up my date and went to the Hot Springs Art Center in historic downtown Hot Springs Arkansas, to see a production of Julius Caeser (set in 1940s Chicago.) My date was a very lovely girl, very sweet. We were good friends, so at the very least we'd have a fun time watching a play together.

Yeah. That was until I caught sight of Pamela McWilliams. She played Portia in the show, wife of Brutus. She was elegant, poised, and compelling. Not to mention hot. Her hair had curl that night. She wore a mid-thigh length dress and nylons.

As lusty as I felt about this girl, I was even more disarmed by her talent. She had chops. She handled the language of Shakespeare with such grace. She communicated the intention of every line with absolute clarity . . . and she obviously understood every line. She had done her homework!

I tried to meet her that night, but some bone-headed old retiree kept her tied up in compliments and I couldn't reach her. Also, I may be a scoundrel, but I try to be a gentleman as well. Rather than dump my date and pursue the red-head,I opted for sharing a cup of coffee and ending the date pleasantly.

Fate would intervene. Pamela and I wound up on stage together in The Crucible. She transformed from the mature, powerful Portia to the seductive, nubile Abigail Williams. She'd take on the role of Pamela Moore, my wife, a few months later.

Okay, I'm biased, but I've also seen Pam From the viewpoint of a director, a fellow actor, and an audience member. So here is why she's one of the artists I love:

Pamela is a "character" lead. What that means is like a Ewan McGregor or Gwenneth Paltrow she has the looks and skill to be the romantic lead; like those two actors (and a few others . . . Charlize Theron and Jude Law for example)she's better in a role that defies pigeon-holing as "romantic lead." Dirty her up a bit, and she'll really shine through. In life she's loud and ballsy or soft and fragile depending on her mood. She brings that richness to any role I've ever seen her tackle. Infusing an emotional life into an onstage or on-screen persona is like second nature for her, and she has no problem shaking even the darkest of emotions out of her system once "cut" is called. On set, she's very professional and personable. No one dislikes this girl who's taken the time to speak with her.
There's much more to her than just acting, too! She's another creative "Buckaroo Bonzai". Her blog (which is ostensibly about acting) often wanders over into all her other artistic pursuits. (It happens to be a good read, too.)

She happens to be a terrific mate as well.

Happy Birthday, Pam.

Humor and Commentary

So I have this comic strip I've been doing on and off for a couple of years. I post the strips in the coffee shop I work at on weekends. They tend to be political, which gets me into all sorts of hot water. (My politics are libertarian, which means I step on everyone's toes. Except other libertarians.) That's fine, I like being a trouble maker. It keeps me feeling young.

My trouble with this strip is, I want to post the strip online, at the "Up to Bat" blog I've started (but neglected.) I feel as if I should write a brief abstract of the news I'm commenting on so that six months from now, people will know what the heck I was going on about.

Every now and then I catch a "classic" episode of Saturday Night Live. Invariably some of the humor flies right over mi cabeza. Because it's dated. It may have been the funniest thing on television at the time, but who cares now if no one gets the "current event" humor of thirty years ago?

On the other hand, SCTV is far funnier to me. They didn't air live, so their humor had to be less topical and more . . . dare I say imaginative?

What do you think?

Should "Up to Bat" fly out of the coffeehouse batcave and onto the net? Or should it stay dusty and tucked away like the news it's based on?

Writing like Beethoven, Writing like Mozart

Here are a couple of observations on the nature of writing for performance.

MOZART:

Some years ago, I found myself taking a summer course in playwriting from a man I deeply admire and respect as a playwright (and scene designer, and director, and . . . You get the idea. His name is Allen Partridge, he's another Buckaroo Bonzai.) I was toiling away on what was to become Diving In, my only award-winning play (so far!) We students would turn in our pages each day, and receive his teacherly criticism the next day.

One day, Partirdge handed back my pages and he had written in red ink on the top page "Too many notes, Wolfgang!" It was the only note. I queried him and he responded "Watch Amadeus." So I did. Near the beginning of the film, a court official is criticizing Mozart's music. Mozart says "What's wrong with it?" The court official replies "Too many notes."

So I took this up with Partridge, and received the best piece of writing advice I've ever been given. Essentially, why use a paragraph when a well wrought phrase would accomplish the same thing? Economy of word leads to greater emotional impact.

I strive to exercise great economy, but I still tend to write like Mozart.

BEETHOVEN:

The way I learned it, when Beethoven went deaf, his music went nuts. Musicians complained about the difficulty of performing his music. The notes were too high, too difficult to reach; his passages were far too complex to play with human hands. And yet, the music is beautiful, challenging and nuanced.

Well, I try to write like Beethoven.

Oh, I don't get ridiculous with the demands I put on a performer. I don't expect them to sprout wings or bleed tapioca pudding.

However, I may write a character who makes an emotional turn "on a dime." I have a certain fondness for repetition in monologues that makes them difficult to memorize. I may even force a performer to say words and relate experiences that are horrible, embarrassing, disgusting, etc. It's only because I respect actors enough to bring my "A" game as a writer.

More Episode Summaries for . . . THE FELTIES!

Here are a few more episode summaries for you to pour over and steal ideas from!

(BTW - so far only one person has voted for me to post the pilot script and storyboards. [Thanks, Mom!] Seriously . . . I'm not going to go to the trouble unless it's wanted. Should I post the pilot script and storyboards? Email me: thefelties@sbcglobal.net.)

“SWEET CHILD O’ MIME” - Mimey sends away for a ventriloquist’s dummy. He patiently waits the six-to-eight weeks. Well, patiently for him, anyway.

Around the fourth week, the stork accidently drops off a baby at the Svelte Felt Bachelor Pad. Mimey signs for the bundle, mistaking it for his dummy.

Wackiness ensues. Mimey discovers the truth, and tries to “parent” the little munchkin. Finally, the true parents show up.

MIMEY
Mimey Jr.! Come back!

MIMEY JR.
MIMEY!

. . . in subtitles, of course. This makes Mimey happy. (Inspired by Charlie Chaplin's "The Kid" .)

“SOFTBALL, OR THE MANOS NINE” - It is time for the annual Casa de Manos vs. The Palm softball game! This year, the Manos denizens have a secret weapon: Kabuki. She’s a world class softball coach who leads the home team to victory.

Oh - and Mimey comes up to bat three times over the course of the episode, each time using an air-prop bat. The first two times, he strikes out. The last time, bottom of the ninth, bases loaded with two outs, Mimey knocks the ball out of the park. Yes, with his air-prop bat.

“MIMEY JOINS A BAND” - The goth band that practices in the basement needs a new lead singer. They see Mimey doing laundry, and convince him to join up (he’s the palest guy they’ve ever seen.) He does so, of course not making any actual noise. The band argues about it, but decides to keep him . . . “It’s just part of his mystique!”

“NOBODY LIKES A TRADER” - A Send-up of “Wall Street” and “Boiler Room.” Pupsumoto takes on the persona of Gordon Gecko, and Mimey goes through a “Trading Places” situation. They meet up in the middle.

“CHECKMATE” - Pupsumoto and Mimey play chess. Pups puts Mimey in check. Mimey protects his king with an invisible box. This leads to an argument about whether or not air-props are allowed in chess. Pups puts an end to the discussion by cutting the invisible box in half with his sword.

“WHERE ARE THEY NOW?” - Mimey and Pupsumoto watch the Cable Music Show “Where Are They Now?” about washed-up rock star Gerry “Mad Dog” Steve. Knock-knock at the door. It’s Mad Dog and his new manager Peppto Jople (Pronounced “Pepto Yoplay.”) Mad Dog is staging a comeback, and is hocking his new CD door-to-door. Pups and Mimey resist. It just deteriorates from there. Mad Dog and Peppto refuse to give up on the sale!

THE FELTIES: WEBISODE SUMMARIES

I am currently cleaning up and finishing up the writing for "The Felties: Season One." I ran across this in my notes, and thought I'd post it here.

I can't vouce for the accuracy of these descriptions. Things change as I write, you know! But the following should give you a taste of what is in store.

(I am thinking about posting the pilot script and some of the storyboards. What do YOU think? E-mail me and let me know if I should: thefelties@sbcglobal.net.)

PILOT EPISODE: “I CAN’T STAN IT” - Pupsumoto’s dedication to Bushido and Mimey’s sanity are put to the supreme test. Stan’s apartment is being fumigated (to kill off whatever has been killing his cats) and so Stan needs a place to hang-out for a few hours. Pupsumoto is honor bound to extend shelter when requested. Mimey is unable to voice his disagreement. The boys are in for a rough night.

“FELT IS THICKER THAN WATER” - Mimey’s cousin Clownie shows up, deserted by the circus and beaten up by all who meet him. Mimey, out of a sense of familial duty invites his loser cousin to stay with him. Mimey takes this oportunity to school Clownie on the ways of the world, in a very “after school special” kind of way.

Meanwhile, Pupsumoto’s sumo wrestler cousin Cuzumoto has just arrived from Japan to break into American wrestling. Deciding that Cuzumoto is too uncouth and barbaric, Pupsumoto tries to introduce his cousin to the ways of Bushido.

Frustrated in their attempts to change their cousins, Pupsumoto and Mimey figure it’s best to push Clownie and Cuzumoto out of the nest . . .

. . . and into an empty apartment upstairs where the two co-exist in a psychotic mockery of Mimey and Pupsumoto.

“KABUKI AND DULLY, OR BEAUTY AND THE BLECH” - Pupsumoto’s sister Kabuki is in town from Japan to study cosmotology at an American school. Whoops! Pupsumoto forgot that her plane is arriving and he is honor bound to go on a blind date with Dully, Stan’s granddaughter. Mimey grudgingly agrees to “babysit” Kabuki and discovers a new found feeling: love.

On his date with Dully, Pupsumoto discovers a new feeling as well: nausea.

“PUPSUMOTO AND THE SPIDER” - Pupsumoto’s only fear crawls on eight legs . . . and it’s out to get him! Luckily, his best friend and roommate lives a double life: Mime by day, CAPTAIN ANTI-ARACHNID by night (or whenever the “Pupsumoto’s Being Attacked by a Spider” alarm goes off).

Pupsumoto’s awe of Captain Anti-Arachnid turns into obsession over the masked stranger’s true identity.

Mimey, tired of having to change into the costume takes drastic measures to rid their apartment building of spiders.

Confession time . . .

My home computer is . . . gulp . . . a Bondi Blue iMac.

I'll just wait a moment for you to stop laughing.

.

.

.

Okay, that's enough. You're starting to hurt my feelings.

Look: I love this crappy little computer. It's so much better than the Windows 95 hunk of junk I used to have. Also, it's pretty, and has Nanosaur.

The only problem with it is everything. I can't upgrade it . . . no expansion slots, I'm stuck with two USB ports, OS 9, etc. Pamela has to load her iPod up at work. Heck, I have to use her computer at work to do anything involving uploading or downloading! (She has a sweet HP "media center.")

I guess I'm just as stubborn and hard-headed as my grandpa Travis Moore was. I don't see the point in replacing something that works "just fine." Of course, "just fine" doesn't cut it anymore. Grandpa Moore could get away with using the same Craftsman tools his entire life. I need to upgrade my computer every couple of years -- at least!

For The Felties to work, I have to upload quality content weekly - at least!!! The field is quickly thickening out there. (Just take a look at the frequency with which Andrew at www.puppetvision.blogspot.com blogs about new videos online!) It's enough to totally introvert me!

Back when mini DV "prosumer" cameras hit the market, I recall a filmmaker (probably Robert Rodriguez or Rick Schmidt) saying "The great thing about digital is that anyone can make a movie. The bad thing is that ANYONE can make a movie." Indeed, the number of movies made in any given year is steadily on the increase. More artists are making their voices heard! (Good luck competing with all of them for attention.)

Fortunately (I hope) we have the story of the "Tortoise and the Hare." Slow and steady wins the race. Consistently putting out good content is what wins the day. Look at my heroes: "Homestar Runner" (www.homestarrunner.com) and "Glove and Boots" (www.gloveandboots.com). To put it another way, as someone far brighter than I once said, it's better to be a distant, flickering star than a shooting star. Sure, the shooting star gets more attention. The distant flickering star burns on through the eons, a comfort and an aid to travellers. Sorry to get all mystical, but I hope you get the point.

So, in sum, I need to upgrade. I need to bite the bullet, and join the 21st century. (Oh man, I'm stuck in last century. That's not good.)

So, uh . . . anyone want to loan me a few thousand dollars?

TIMMY TUBESOCK
or
How I Stopped Worrying and Learned to Love Video Blogging

My wife explains this project here.

Most people celebrate the holidays with family, food, and fun. We run around Hollywood with a video camera and a sock puppet!

So Pam and I talked it over and decided to just go ahead and do something. The result: Timmy Tubesock. The video is version 1.0. We're planning on a Chinatown trip in the near future for version 2.0. This is our way of learning while doing.

WARNING: This is very rough. We set some harsh limits on ourselves that were positively Dogme 95-ian. (What is Dogme 95 you ask? Essentially, minimalist movie making. Check out the Dogme 95 "Vow of Chastity.")

So tell me what you think! I have a whole message board set up (and gathering dust)!

TUESDAY'S ARTISTS I LOVE - The Ottomen

The OTTOMEN

Once upon a time, in the city of St. Louis Missouri, I found myself writing a screenplay. I needed to do a bit of research into the wild world of independent comic book publishing, and so found my way to a cool little comic book store hidden away near Washington University. I scanned the shelves and flipped through a few comics. Feeling the eyes of the clerk boring into me like Cyclops' laser vision, I decided to buy something. I looked for the best value, and found AMAZING CRAB #1 by David Stevenson. On the cover of the comic someone had handwritten:

"Bonus Free Ottomen CD!! 25 tracks of Ottomen fun!!"

Score! I have a fondness for scrappy indie musicians. So I paid my $2.50 and went back to work.

I popped in the CD, and found myself a new favorite band.

Okay, here's the deal. This is not a polished studio band. The songwriting is not exactly Lennon/McCartney. It basically sounds like three dudes got together with a four-track recorder, and didn't stop laying down tracks until the neighbors finally called the cops. I love this band. I used to be in a band like this, but we never recorded anything.

And I just admire the heck out of these guys. They started out in Kansas City. Half of these guys up and moved to St. Louis, and the band went into mitosis; so there was "Ottomen - St. Louis" and "Ottomen - KC". I'm a bit fuzzy on what all happened next. I think the principle members now live in New York and have formed up as "Paper Fleet". Apparently, they did an Ottomen reunion show not that long ago. Past members are still very much in communication with each other (even the guy who now lives in Japan) and they just seem like the nicest bunch of folks who ever all belonged to the same few bands at different times.

Uh . . . you should probably just check out their website.

(If I had more courage, I'd be a musician full-time.)

Update, 4/21/17: You can listen to the magic on the Ottomen Bandcamp page.

AFTERGLOW - After the Affaire

Twenty-four hours ago, I was chowing down on pasta from Vitello's in Studio City at the official "wrap party" for Torrid Affaire. Well, it was sort-of the wrap party. We may bring the show back in March or shoot it as a movie. Not too sure. I may just chuck it all and go back to Harvard to finish my English Lit degree. We'll see. (For further info on the "what next" conundrum, see what my wife/co-producer wrote in her blog entry entitled "The Morning After.")

The show went very well! We came very close to a full house (47 out of 48 seats filled!) The audience was alive and engaged, really having a good time. My cast spurred on the audience and rode off into the night on a mad bull of laughter. (Yikes. My metaphors are usually better than that.)

At the close of this show, I feel a bit sad and empty. I always get like this. First, there's the period leading up to the big moment, full of running around and getting stuff done -- whoopee! And then FUMP. The high-speed activity ceases, and I'm left passed out on the couch with my dog and a half-empty cup of lukewarm tea. I hit the "shiftless" period where I just don't want to do anything. That lasts about a day and then sure enough I'm back on track, building back up. I think I mentioned this sort of thing in an earlier post (11 November 2005. Yep, I'm back at "point C".)

The neat thing is, getting stuff done leads to getting more stuff done. Or, to quote Thomas Jefferson: "It is wonderful how much may be done, if we are always doing." Here, here!

* * *

Directing note: I ran into this quote from Buckminster Fuller during the rehearsal process:

"When I'm working on a problem, I never think about beauty. I think only how to solve the problem. But when I have finished, if the solution is not beautiful, I know it was wrong."

I took this as advice and applied it as a director. It really holds true!

* * *

I love being an artist. I am exactly where I want to be. I just closed a play in Los Angeles California, to a packed house. Yeah, my rent's late, my gas and electric are all way past due, and I need new tires. So what? This is the life I chose. And I feel so much richer for having made the decision to throw caution (not to mention common sense) to the wind and make a go of it out here. It's nights like last night that make all the other garbage worth it.

To end off with another neat quote: "You can save yourself with art to some extent. With art, you can cull all your answers into a magnificent synthesis." - Anne Rice

She may be a total whack-job, but she's right.

Torrid Felties

Yeah, yeah. I know. This is supposed to be a blog about The Felties. So why am I wasting your time with some play I wrote and directed?

Before launching headlong into producing weekly episodes of The Felties, I needed to learn a little bit about producing. Heck, before doing this play, renting a soundstage was unconfrontable.

Also, I needed to flex my writing and directing muscles (I hate to admit it, but they have been a bit flacid lately.) Well, I pounded out this script in three weeks. Also, it is the longest dramatic work I've ever directed. That makes writing and directing 5 minute-long episodes very doable.

Finally, sometimes the best thing to do when stuck in a rut is to blow, do something else for a while, and come back. Yes, I was stuck in a rut on The Felties. I have been mired in the technical mumbo-jumbo. It's been nice to switch over to good, old-fashioned analog entertainment. So much so, I'm contriving a live puppet show for one of the upcoming Puppet Slams the L.A. Guild of Puppetry produces.

In the (underrated) movie Center Stage, there's this great part where a dance instructer tells a talented young dancer:

"Whenever you reach a plateau and you need to bring the passion back into your work, you must remember to return to the bar."

The instructor here is referring to the ballet bar dancers use while practicing their basics. Theatre is and forever shall be my "bar." From time to time, I know I will have to return to it.

The Middle of the Affaire

Ahhh . . . the eye of the storm. My play opened Sunday Night, our next (and so far last) show is this coming Sunday. Today, the Wednesday 'twixt the two, I am well rested and ready to bore you with lessons thus far learned.

First, I must say my wife has done a far better job than I of chronicling this mad adventure. What the heck. She kept a journal as a little girl. I kept He-Man action figures.

WHAT THE PLAY IS ABOUT

Five young women, each with a secret to share, reunite for an evening of sexy fun. The eponymous "torrid affaire" refers to:

1) the reason for the gathering (a "Torrid Affaire" party; think a Tupperware party with "marital aids") and
2) an extramarital affair from one of the ladies past that comes back to haunt her during the course of the play.

As I've said before, it is risque but not trashy. On the promotion, we are stating very openly "no one under 18 admitted." If it were a movie, it'd be rated "R" for language and content . . . but don't get the wrong idea. It doesn't go quite so far as the most "explicit" episode of "Sex and the City."

For the curious, here is the script. Beware: this is not the final version. One of the joys of being both writer and director is I get to "workshop" the script as I'm directing it. There have since been some pretty severe edits to the dialogue.

WHAT WAS I THINKING

Why did I devote so much of my time and money to a play? A play in Los Angeles, of all places?!? Why not shoot a film or spend that money on headshots and lipo?

Well, I think I can trust all 14 of you readers out there with a secret: I did it for street cred. That's right. Street cred. I've lived in this town for a few years, have done some cool things, but have not even begun to scratch beyond the surface of the industry. Earlier this year I began to feel disgusted with myself for being "all talk and no action." So I spun the roulette wheel and picked something to get my name in the paper.

That's not true. Doing theatre was not a "chance" decision. It was coldly calculated: I had a fantastic liberal arts education under the tutelage of one Allen Partridge, and feel equally at home in the scene shop, on stage, or focusing lights from a teetering ladder. My biggest resource . . . and I can not emphasize this enough . . . is my education. Perhaps if I had gone to film school, I would've made a movie. Well, I went to theatre school, so I made a play.

Generally speaking, L.A. is at best ambivalent when it comes to theatre. Who was it that said he or she'd rather go to a bad movie than a good play? It certainly seems to be the prevailing attitude. It's an attitude not without merit: good theatre is hard to do, mediocre theatre is easy, and bad theatre is easier still. Also, for some reason when playwrights are confronted with the idea of putting their words on a stage, the inner preacher pops out to beat the audience into submission. In the movies it is said "if you want to send a message, call Western Union." It could just as easily be said "rent a theatre and produce a play."

So Pamela and I figured that it wouldn't be that hard to produce a play that is just plain enjoyable entertainment, market it virally, and hopefully get some work (acting and writing) as a result of our efforts. We decided to stage the thing at the beginning of pilot season (when casting directors are looking for new talent). We should know in the coming weeks if this mad experiment worked.

As for me, I feel that I'm on my way to getting that "street cred." I'm on the map. Granted, I'm a little hick town right now, not a major city, but as the great director and acting teacher Milton Katselas pointed out in his book Dreams Into Action, a career is a voyage. You chart your course, hoist your sails, and career headlong into the great unknown.

(YIKES!)

TUESDAY'S ARTISTS I LOVE - Ron Yavnielli

Today: Fellow "Renaissance Man" Ron Yavnielli.

Animator, cartoonist, actor, puppeteer, stand-up comedian, voice-over artist; he slices, he dices, he feeds a family of four!

Whenever I have a question about animation, he's the "go-to guy." He knows his stuff . . . and he's simply the nicest guy-who-looks-like-he-could-kick-your-ass-without-even-trying I've ever met.
We met shooting a pilot (Groovy David's Dance Party.) He performed "D. J. Beat" and I performed . . . D. J. Beat's right hand.

Update, 4/21/17: Ron is the genius behind DreamWorksTV's Gorillaville. And he's still one of the nicest guys I know.

Pam and Drew's Excellent Theatrical Adventure

My wife Pamela puts it much better than I can.

I am currently in the throes of artistic ecstasy (or is that agony?) so I haven't updated this blog in quite a few days. I have a "Tuesday's Artist" but I think I'll just do a "two-fer" next Tuesday.

Torrid Affaire is coming right along. This coming Sunday (January 15th) is the first of TWO performances. I'm shifting gears from "Bob Ross" style directing to doing run-throughs followed by notes.

"Bob Ross" style directing: Remember Bob Ross? Well, Google him. His style of painting is very interesting: Take a big brush, load it with paint, and beat the hell out of your canvas. Go back later and add fine details. "Bob Ross" style directing is where you beat the hell out of your actors, and go back and add fine details later. It's also like sculpting: remove the big parts, and go back in for the fine detail later. Get the idea? I may tell an actor to do the scene like he's King Kong. That puts in the broad, big strokes. They see how far something can be taken. When you run it again, you have them do it as per usual, but there is residual King Kong in the performance (or whatever.) You stretch out the actor, let go, and they'll settle into a routine more like what you want. THEN you go in on the detail work. "Build to this line, pause, and just let the bottom fall out."

I'm sure this is somehow applicable to directing puppeteers. No time just now to ruminate on it. Come Monday, I'll have more time to espouse such things.

Ciao!

Dissolving Artistic Problems

I ran across this posting via Seth Godin's blog (a blog referencing a blog referencing a blog. Wow.)

What caught my eye was this quote (also quoted by Godin):

"Sometimes I use this as an example when I'm at client sites. I tell them the moral of the story, too: 'If you can't change the little things in your methods, you'll never change the big things. Pick something, make it better. Don't worry if it is just a little thing. If you lather, rinse, and repeat that a few times, you will have made a big difference.'"

Sometimes in life, it's not a matter of resisting change, it's a matter of overwhelm. You just don't know where to start! Problems flame up, and next thing you know, you're staring at a Gordian Knot. In real life, you can't just cut out your problems in a Herculean fashion. Problems require solutions, not surgery. (It's very "American" to wait until problems mount up well into "Gordian Knot" territory and then go for the "quick fix." i.e.: gastrointestinal bypass surgery, war, etc.) It can be frustrating! The thing to do, I find, is to latch onto one thing you can fix, and fix it. Problems begin to solve.

I feel this way about directing. In rehearsal, just watching the performance before me, I may see nothing but problems that require fixing. I tend to latch onto one problem and solve the hell out of it. When the scene is run again, I notice other problems not even touched on have magically disappeared.

Is it any wonder that the derivation of "solution" is "solvere - to loosen?"

(If only I could take my own advice more often!)

The Felties - their design.

So, if you browse through previous posts, you'll get a pretty good idea what The Felties look like.
Or, you can look at my Flickr Felties slideshow here.

Designing these characters, I was going for simplicity. Jim Henson once said something like "Puppets are pure character." No complications: This one's a high-strung frog, that one's a sad-sack bear, that other one's a weirdo. So I decided to make very solid, strong types: The easily agitated mime, the honorable samurai, the woeful clown, the tired old man, etc.

I should add that the design choice isn't entirely an aesthetic decision. I don't want a lot of clutter in the image; these webisodes are going to be watched in tiny little windows. I want to make the viewing easy on the audiences' eyes. Also, I figure less clutter in the image means a slightly faster stream. (I'm probably wrong about that last one. I tend to be wrong when it comes to the technological side of things.)

Google Video creates an oral vacuum on the masculine protruberance of equus asinus.

Ourmedia.org isn't too much better.

Why is it so freaking hard to upload video to a free server?

Timmy Tubesock cometh . . . as soon as I can get the video uploaded.

TUESDAY'S ARTISTS I LOVE - Chris Meeks

Chris Meeks, graphic designer.

(I wish he had more of a portfolio online!)

I know Chris Meeks through my wife, although we ran in the same broad circles when I was in high school in Hot Springs, Arkansas. Back then he mostly drew black-and-white, one-off comics for local zines and the local community college paper. He has a viciously whimsical style, and he has influenced my own 2D artwork more than anyone else.

To the left is a Photoshop painting he created.

Update, 4/21/17: You can check out more Chris Meeks at DeviantArt and Behance!