Lucia Di Ammermoor

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I attended a final dress rehearsal for Donizetti’s bel canto masterpiece Lucia Di Ammermoor in the Steinmetz Theater in the Dr. Phillips Center for the Preforming Arts. (445 S. Magnolia Avenue
Orlando, FL). Presented by Opera Orlando, this was an impressive production.

Music is by Gaetano Donizetti with libretto by Salvadore Cammarano. The opera is Sung in Italian with English and Spanish super-titles. Since I was sketching I didn’t have time to read the super-titles.

What is particularly interesting about the show is that they styled it to resemble Game of Thrones. It is a tale of love, betrayal, and madness, Lucia is torn between allegiance to her family and her love for Edgardo–her brother Enrico’s sworn enemy. A forced marriage leads to tragic ends for all involved in this gorgeous operatic treatment of Sir Walter Scott’s gothic romance The Bride of Lammermoor.

Particularly impressive were the large celebrations with crowds of guests in gothic attire. At one such celebration the partners turned and gasped when they saw Lucia stumble down the steps in a white dress holding knife covered in blood. Her disruption took center stage as she sang her sorrowful aria. Again I didn’t read the translation, but read the meaning in every guests reaction of horror and bewilderment.

I started a second sketch towards the end of the production. Time was short, as they were singing around a funeral pyre. I was among several dozen people who were in the second tier of the theater. The rest of the theater was empty. In the pit were members of the Orlando Philharmonic Orchestra. choreographer Mila Makarova, had dancers from the Orlando Ballet performing some sinister dance moves around Lucia as she went mad.

Next time I sketch a production from so far away, I plan to bring opera glasses. I used them in the courtroom for the Pulse Nightclub shooting case, but realize now I need then when seeing a theater production from afar.

Performances are on Friday | April 19 at 7:30 p.m. and  Sunday | April 21 at 2 p.m. Tickets start at $29.

COVID Dystopia: Flaming Baby Close Up

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This close up of the flaming baby has a depth map which makes the face turn with the camera move. The hand drawn flames and breath are the animated elements. With so many people expressing an interest in seeing a longer slower version of the film, I am in a pickle. Part of me wants to storyboard a more linear story structure that is easier for an audience to digest. After the screening of COVID Dystopia I could feel the audiences stunned silence before the applause. Perhaps they were thinking, “is that it?” I also don’t give the audience a chance to identify with any single character which they could root for.

Having spent a two solid days watching short films, I have a billion ideas about what could make COVID Dystopia even better. Whoever, Though I am still making tweaks to animation that needs improvement, I will not start an overly ambitious longer form of the short. I have to live with how it has turned out. The Seattle Film Festival turned down the film as soon as I got back from Cleveland. COVID Dystopia had only a 17% acceptance rate. Film Freeway has claimed that is a good acceptance rate but that is hard to believe.

I will keep promoting the film at festivals because I think people need a swift slap in the face to remind them that the pandemic is not over. There might not be another huge spike like the Omicron wave, but people are dying from COVID at the same rate as automobile accident deaths. The vaccines are helping prevent death and hospitalizations, but vaccines don’t prevent infection.  Most of the population has embraced mass infection. The virus decimates the immune system. Meanwhile Long COVID keeps disabling people. Every repeat infection increases the chance of people developing Long COVID.

COVID Dystopia screened at Cleveland International Film Festival

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The Cleveland International Film Festival was impressive. Granted COVID Dystopia didn’t win any awards, but it was an honor just to get to show it there.

There were some amazing shorts in the After Hours Short Film block that COVID Dystopia was shown in. Bounce House by Callie Bloem and Christopher J. Ewing won the award for the best After Hours Short. It featured a post apocalyptic world with giant sloths and of course a bounce house.

I think my favorite was The Looming by Marsha Ko. It features a stellar actor who is truly haggard in his look. He lives alone and occasionally talks to his Alexa device. Alexa failed several times in different horror films, usually turning off the lights when the character desperately needs the light on. I can identify since I now live alone and occasionally open the front door just to listen to the security system say, “Front door open.” She isn’t a great conversationalist but its what I got.

There was a talk back after the screening and I was surprised that there were a bunch of questions about COVID Dystopia. I of course talked about the beginning of the project in March of 2020 when I started doing a painting a day about the pandemic.

One woman wanted to know if there would be a longer form of the project. My answer to her was that the long form project would be a book which I felt no one actually would want to see but I feel it needs to to be made for people 100 years from now. She raised her hand and said she would certainly get a copy. Now that I have a potential sale, it is time to create the book.

Someone else asked about the music and I got to promote Andy Matchett and the Post Apocalyptic Rock musical, Key of E. I couldn’t believe that the mic kept being handed off to me. I got flummoxed by a multi point question but think I answered it in the end. While COVID Dystopia was being shown a large group of people in the row in front of me started waving in friends. By the time they were all settled the film was over. Perhaps COVID Dystopia presents too much too fast. Next time around I need to make something with a straight forward narrative structure.

While doing the sketch above of the Allen Lobby, I had to swing my filmmaker lanyard behind my back since it got in the way of my sketching. As I was finishing up, an usher walked up behind me and asked if I wanted my lanyard scanned. It turned out a long line had formed all around me, and the audience were about to go into a screening. I asked what film was being shown and one of the ushers laughed. The film was, Humanist Vampire Seeking Consenting Suicidal Person. The title probably sounds better in French. It sounded good to me, so I went in. I sat way in the back of the theater, away from the crush of the crowd. As the lights went out, my glasses fell to the floor. I got on my hands and knees to find them using the faint light from my iPhone but with no luck. I sat through the whole film wondering where the glasses could be. Reading the captions was a challenge but the message of the film was not lost on me. I loved it. At the end of the film, when the lights came back up, I found my glasses which had bounced one seat over. I later saw the vampire actress walking in the lobby. I couldn’t help but stare, her porcelain face was as white and frail as in the movie. If only I knew French.

At the Shorts Jury Awards and the Shorts Audience Choice Awards, I got to see all the winning films. The winner for best animation was Anita Lost in the News, a film about a failed emigration of a family out of Iraq. It seemed to be stop motion animation with the family being created out of newspaper clippings. I don’t think there were many animated films. All the films I saw in the tow days I was at the Film Festival were live action documentaries or narrative films.

Cleveland International Film Festival

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COVID Dystopia was shown at the Cleveland International Film Festival. I got up at 4am to get ready for the flight to Cleveland. I made an egg sandwich before I left which became important since I forgot to eat for the rest of the day. The Frontier flight was on time and I got to Cleveland around 10am. I couldn’t check into my air b&B until 4-m so the Lyft driver took me directly to the theater district.

It was cold and raining, so when I got out of the Lyft, I dashed directly into the CSU Idea Center right next to the theater. On the 6th floor there were a series of panel discussions on the making of films. The panel discussions were, “The Story: the journey from page to screen”, and “The Business: follow the money.”

The panels were filmed, so I found a spot where I could sketch the cameras and the audience. Since my film literally had no budget, just my time, blood sweat and tears, I was certainly curious about the money side of making films. It was inspiring to hear all the filmmakers trials and tribulations on their film making journey. For each it was clearly a passion rather than a way to make a quick buck.

After the panel discussions I made my way to the theaters. Dear god these Cleveland theaters are opulent and gorgeous. I asked several red coated ushers where I could sign in as a filmmaker. The guest services area is where I signed in. I was given a lanyard and a swag bag. I was the told I could attend any screening I liked. I wasn’t expecting that. I thought I would have to pay $18 for each screening.

I then wandered slack jawed through the theater lobbies that were all interconnected. In the Connor Palace I thought I might just sketch the lobby but the ushers directed me towards some doors.  A screening had just started. I had no idea what film was showing, but I went inside. The introductory trailer had just started. The immense theater was dark. I stumbled half way up an aisle until I had cleared the opulent balcony.

The film was titled “Minted” bout the rise and fall of the NFT art market. I am so glad I saw the film. The film showcased how NFT helped artists make a mint during the rise in the market. They showed Bepples sitting with his family as his NFT sold at Christie’s for 65 million dollars. Other artist success stories showed them fining freedom of expression and financial independence. It all seemed to good to be true. And it was.

Another Artist found her digital creation were being stolen and sold by others as NFTs. Artists were making good money because they made royalties any time their work was sold. Those royalties disappeared once the bubble burst. Artists can no longer make a living off of just selling NFTs. Many were commercial artists before the NFT craze but they had to return to commercial work after the crash.

Speculators got into the market just to make a quick buck. Most of the art being sold was put crap but the craze allowed crap to be worth millions. The NFT craze coincided with the height of the COVID pandemic. In the documentary artists were wearing masks when they were struggling to make a living. But when their work began selling for thousands of dollars the mask came off. If my work ever starts selling for thousands, I might consider taking my mask off as well. Then I could afford the inevitable health care costs not covered by insurance.

COVID Dystopia: Babies bursting Into Flames

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This scene from COVID Dystopia has hand drawn flames. I later started doing flames using distortion tools in After Effects, but these flames work just fine. I see no reason to go back to make these flames like the other more digital flames. The film has a mix of techniques used to create flames.

COVID Dystopia faced two rejections from film festivals yesterday. It is the flaming baby no one wants to hold. To counter the rejections I researched festivals I would like to submit to next. The only response to an indifferent world is to press ahead.

On April 12, COVID Dystopia will have screened at the Cleveland International Film Festival. It is part of the After Hours Part 2 Shorts block. I will be flying in to attend the screening. I am hoping to sketch the theater before the screening. Since I will be traveling light, I will not have my art stool so I will get some exercise as I stand to do the sketches.

I will be bringing 5 by 8 inch poster cards that have the lyrics on the back. The printing job by Fed Ex Kinkos is horrible. The type was printed as a dot screen and is barely legible. Anyway I want to get rid of these 40 or so cards and print up better cards. I also have about 50 “COVID is not done with us” buttons. I don’t know if there is a place to leave this free swag but I will find out. Is it cold in Clevelend, Oh God I hope not.

COVID Dystopia will also be streaming on CIFF Streams online from April 14, 2024 – April 21, 2024 (Part of short: “After Hours Shorts 2”). Tickets for online viewing are $14.

COVID Dystopia: Tanks Attack

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This shot from COVID Dystopia has tanks on the streets of New York City firing up the invading virus’ as they float down the side streets. I like how the shot is working.

The entire film was altered to get rid of he snap zoom effects between shots. Those snap zooms were the original reason I wanted to create the film but I am realizing the intensity and speed need to be dialed back a bit for the average audience to have any chance of digesting all that is being thrown at them.

A random Facebook message from a follower in South Africa convinced me to slow things down a touch. He said his wife kept asking him to freeze frame the movie so she could see all the details in each shot. I recognize that people might miss many details, but that is true to the times where the 24 hour news cycle keeps churning out viewpoint weather true or not and the internet further distorts simple truths.

This film has had a 17% success rate in getting into festivals. Those are slim pickings. The list of rejections is immense. I had tow festivals reject the film yesterday. Facing so much rejection eventually wears you down. But when I get a rejection I research a new festival that might accept the message and I also refine and improve shots. I hope I am polishing a gem and not something that everyone hates. From curse words in the lyrics to very adult themed images, I know I am facing an uphill battle. The audience is out there however I just need to find them. This will be a year of patience and perseverance.

In two days I fly to the Cleveland International Film Festival where COVID Dystopia will screen at 9:50pm. This is the first Academy Award qualifying festival that the film has been accepted into. Hoping to make the most of that 17% acceptance rate.

 

COVID Dystopia: Flesh Dropped Like a Waterfall

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The full lyrics for this shot of the film, COVID Dystopia are, “Flesh dropped like a waterfall from every Nazi face.”

I hand animated the candle falem in this shot and the flames around the edges of the Constitution were animated in After Effects.

Rudy simply rotates a bit using a depth map. I am considering opening his mouth a bit and it might be good to hand animated a couple of drips flowing downward. If I fully animate the hands that might help as well. The consideration is always weather the move is actually needed.

I am going through the whole film now and making sure the camera moves work the way I want. Since I deleted all the snap zoom effects there are often hold at the beginning and end of each shot where those transitions happened. I just need to expand each of those markers out for the duration of the shot.

As I am doing all those camera move tweaks I am also compiling a spreadsheet so I can keep track of all the things I might consider improving in each shot. I will go back through all these posts since I often shared those considerations here.

This past week I have been swamped with moving the studio but now I can start animating again. I watched the film through this morning without the snap zoom effects and it is starting to grow on me. By the end of today I hope to have any camera move timing issues cleaned up. I also need to finish cleaning up the Times Square Hazmat shot. I am just making sure the line work in that shot is crisp. They say you learn from your mistakes. Well on this film, I seem to have made every mistake possible.

COVID Dystopia: Hazmat Cleanup

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This scene from COVID Dystopia was animated at a resolution of 1920 by 1080. Unfortunately when scaled up in After Effects the line work became pixelated and blurry.

To fix the animation I had to re-import the blurry mp4 file into Callipeg and clean it up. This involved going back to the original art to find the high resolution bodies and go through frame by frame adding them over the blurry footage. The three guys to the left have been reworked and I have two more to do.

I had almost finished the scene earlier in the week but I pinched all the separate layers together so that it would play back correctly. Callipeg has a glitch where layers that are not completely filled with art will cause the program to flicker on playback.

I discovered that several of the layers had shifted by a frame or so causing the clean up animation to fall out of sync with the blurry footage. Then the program wouldn’t let me move anything. I decided to start over and avoid merging layers. I am living with the flickering effect since I know that it will render correctly in the end.

I have just two more hazmat suited guys too go. I should finish tonight. However I plan to head out today to go to a solar eclipse viewing party. The plan is to sketch the crowd outside looking up. I don’t have protective goggles, but I will be sketching the people not looking up. At least I think I can resist looking up.

COVID Dystopia: Virus Over Manhattan

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In this shot from COVID Dystopia, a huge virus enters screen left and settled in over Manhattan. Animation was done in After Effects. The only possible thing that could make ths shot better would be for the shadows of the skyscrapers to change as the virus settles over Manhattan. I don’t think that is needed however.

I have one more day of working on a shot that has given me hell. I will write about the trails and tribulations tomorrow. Today I should be moving the last of the art and a filing cabinet into the studio. Then I can relax and start hanging paintings. I also have a small Mexican fire pit int he backyard and I plan to burn some paper items from my past.

I have started putting events on my calendar which should be good to sketch. Since I am animating I keep canceling any sketch outings.

I arranged all my sketchbooks chronologically yesterday. They were well organized through 2016 but then the system had been abandoned. I decided to arrange the books bases on the date of the last sketch in the sketchbook. I think the sketchbooks b=prior to 2016 had been arranged according to the date of the first sketch in the sketch books. I have a sketchbook in my bag now that was started way back in 1981. It fell off my bike as I was starting a cross country bike trip. Someone found it in the snow and packed it away in their garage. 30 years later they realized the book was signed and they returned it. When I finish the last sketch in that sketchbook the date of the last sketch will affect how I catalogue it. Is this the right system? I don;t know. Life is short beginning or end of a sketchbook, even with a 30 year gap is a infinitesimal fraction of time.

 

COVID Dystopia: There Were Lasers

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This scene from COVID Dystopia has an alien virus enter from the top and fire off one large laser blast. The explosion quickly expands. It has always bothered me that the scene cuts on the blast and that the farm house is unaffected.

If I go back into this scene it will be to animate the farm house exploding. That is a tall order, but could also be quite fun. The advantage is that the are probably only 6 to 12 frames that need to be animated.

I finished refining all the timing of camera moves through out the film yesterday. I want to finish off the clean up of the hazmat suit Times Square clean up crew. I cleaned up two of the hazmat suited workers last night but I have like 6 more to go.

Two drinking mugs that came to the new studio in the move. I have been using a white one with orange inside the cup every day. I woke up this morning and for the life of me, I can not find it. I know I drank from it at dinner last night. I wandered through every room looking at every surface where I might place a mug.

I must be going nuts. I finally gave up and started using the second mug which is a black coffee mug. I don’t know, but when I drink Mountain Dew out of the black mug, the Dew looks dark and menacing. I am used to my Dew being a bright nuclear glowing green.

I have two other white mugs that I now use to store things like scissors and X-Acto blades. One cup shouts CALM and the other shouts CREATE. I think I will use one of those instead, but I can’t decide which message is most relevant. I will not decide today. I figure if I don’t think about the missing cup it will just pop up unexpectedly.