Saturday, November 12, 2011

New Animator on Crew: Chris Rodgers

Stop motion animator, Chris Rodgers from Seattle, joins "The Halloween Pranksta" crew. Chris is working exclusivly on the neighborhood set. His job is to see to it that the Pranksts himself carries out some of his evil doings.

Sunday, October 30, 2011

"Pranksta" Production Continues

As of October 30th, shooting the stop motion animation on "The Halloween Pranksta" has once again begun after a brief hiatus. Supervising animator, Matt Manning, returns from LA after shooting the animation for the music video "Awolnation". The current plan is to finish shooting "Pranksta" before December 1st.

Friday, October 14, 2011

New York Comic Con!

Had a great time walking the NY Comic Con, Day 2. Met up with Mark Hamill to talk about our short stop motion animated film, "The Halloween Pranksta". I also met up with an old friend, Rick and got a look at his sculptures for his "Dragons of Blizzard Island" project.

Tuesday, October 11, 2011

New Credit on the IMDb.com

Our short stop motion animated film, "The Halloween Pranksta" is up on the IMDb.com, with a full color picture included. The film stars the voice talents of Mark Hamill, Jeannie Elias and John Mariano.

Thursday, September 22, 2011

New York Comic Con

With my Professional Status New York Comic Con Pass in hand, I begin to line up meetings for this October. First on my list is, Mark Hamill (co-producer of my short stop motion animated film, "The Halloween Pranksta"). The Javits Center is a great place to meet up. Surrounded by the very best entertainment con on the East coast (attracting artists and filmmakers from all over the US), I can't wait.

Wednesday, September 21, 2011

Tweaking the Animatic

Editor Larry Schmitt times out the animatic of "The Halloween Pranksta" short film (it is mostly made up of storyboard shots), then cuts in the new stop motion animation footage. It is great seeing the film come together one-shot-at-a-time.

Friday, September 16, 2011

Production Goes on Hiatus

After two weeks of intense stop motion production and creating over three minutes of film, for "The Halloween Pranksta", animation supervisor Matt Manning heads back to LA. A special thanks goes out to our guest animator, Zack Williams. The production will now go on hiatus for a few weeks to prepare for the final shoot.

Saturday, September 10, 2011

Team Pranksta welcomes, Animator Zack Williams

Stop Motion Animator Zack Williams, joins Team Pranksta today. He is animating on the basement set where two children plot a prank to play on their neighbors.

Thursday, September 8, 2011

DP Ed Pagan Lights a New Set

As production on "The Halloween Pranksta" rolls along a second set is lit by DP Ed Pagan. Lighting miniature sets is tricky, but Ed dominates and adds his own style to it. Thirty seconds of animation is now complete and we are only four days into shooting, thanks to stop motion animator Matt Manning.

Saturday, September 3, 2011

Animation Supervisor Matt Manning joins PRANKSTA

Our animation Supervisor Matt Manning is now on set. Fresh off the plane from LA, Matt begins plotting moves for the "Pranksta" puppets. The first scene up takes place in the basement of that old creepy house at the end of the street that just about all of us have on our block.

Friday, September 2, 2011

Voice Over recordings: Mark Hamill, Jeannie Elias & John Mariano

We recorded the character voices today in Santa Monica with Mark Hamill (as Bronte the tarantula and Beck the python), Jeannie Elias (as Penny and the Younger Boy) and John Mariano (as the Pranksta himself), for the short film, "The Halloween Pranksta". It was a pleasure working with three of the most talented people in the business. It only took three hours to record the fourteen page screenplay and a behind-the-scenes documentary was shot by DP Peter Schmitt. Supervising Animator, Matt Manning and Asssociate Producer Kasia Kruk were also in attendance to lend some guidance.

Thursday, September 1, 2011

Producer Meeting

Our second meeting in LA was with producer / supervising animator Matt Manning. Matt will be journeying back to New Yortk with us to begin shooting the stop motion animation for "The Halloween Pranksta".

Wednesday, August 31, 2011

Directing the Actor

We landed in LA today and had our first meeting with voice over actor John Mariano. John will be creating two distinct characters for "The Halloween Pranksta". Are they human, animal or something else? We will find out tomorrow.

Saturday, August 13, 2011

The Halloween Pranksta BLOG

That is correct, Team Pranksta has created a new Blog to follow the creation of the most amazing stop motion short film ever produced, staring the voice talent of Mark Hamill, and here is the link. That was some sentence.
http://halloweenpranksta.blogspot.com/2011/08/greetings.html

Wednesday, August 10, 2011

KICKSTARTER FUNDED!

When my producers and I began creating my short stop motion animation film, "The Halloween Pranksta", we never thought it would grow up to be such a monster. Mainly this happened because we never once compromised, we wanted the film to be the very best it could be in every way. Consiquently we shot through our budget and that left us wondering where we were going to get the completion funds. Then Kickstarter came along and everything changed. We were only looking for a fraction of what we knew we needed ($4,400.) to complete the film, and ended up with $150% of what we were asking for ($6,621.). My thanks to all involved, family, friends and supporters alike. Go Team Pranksta!

Monday, July 25, 2011

KICKSTARTER STATUS

We are about two weeks into our Kickstarter campaigne, that leaves two weeks to go. The donations are just under half of our goal. But we have faith, we know we got this. To find us go to Kickstarter.com and type "The Halloween Pranksta" into the search.

Saturday, July 23, 2011

PRANKSTA FILMS LLC is Formed

The title says it all. Well, maybe not everything. Myself and producer Susan Dee are now partners in Pranksta Films LLC. Our first film project together is "The Halloween Pranksta". Presnetly, all sets are completed, most of the puppets as well, and we expect to begin animation as soon as I return from LA in August to record the voice tracks.

Tuesday, July 12, 2011

My "Pranksta" animated film on Kickstarter

Well this is new to me, Kickstarter. In our effort to complete my animated short film, "The Halloween Pranksta", by the end of this summer, our associate producer sugested Kickstarter. As of this moment, we launched only an hour or so ago and got our first donation. I like this Kickstarter thing.

Friday, June 24, 2011

Professional Status at Comic Con NYC

It is always a special treat to visit Comic Con here in NY. Each year it gets bigger and more exciting. I expect to meet up with some old friends and conduct a few meetings with film producers and animation artists.

Thursday, June 16, 2011

The Final, Final Edit on "The Sickness"

I spent the day with the best film editor in New York City, Larry Schmitt. My feature film, "The Sickness", needed some final work before it went out to foreign distribution. The students in my School of Visual Arts class have requested a theatrical screenning. I think I can make that happen.

Tuesday, June 7, 2011

SVA Summer Make Up FX Classes Begin

It was nice to see so many new faces in my Make Up FX Class at School of Visual Arts last night. This is the beginning of the Summer Continuing Education semester. And as usual there were a few suprises. I had three return students ready to take on the advanced material. This should be a very interesting summer.

Sunday, May 8, 2011

ANIMATION THESIS STUDENTS

I am very proud to have five Stop Motion Animation Thesis students for the Fall /Spring school year. All very talented in their own way, I can't wait to see what they come up with for their final film projects. Exactly one year from now, we will see.

Wednesday, February 16, 2011

"The Talisman" FX

The Sunday was a fun day on set with Director / DP Edwin Pagan. His short film "The Talisman" was full of FX and I mean that right down to his style of lighting. I contributed to the big ending and was assisted by actor Chris Triana and prop maker Olga Ayala.

Thursday, February 10, 2011

Teaching Make Up FX at SVA

This past Monday I began teaching a new semester of Make Up FX at SVA through the Continuing Education program. Silicone, fake blood and eager students, what more could a teacher want? Let the fun begin.

Wednesday, January 12, 2011

Digital Sculpting at SVA

I just completed my first class at School of Visual Arts in Digital Sculpting. I see many aplications here to enhance the stop motion short film I currently have in pre-production, "The Halloween Prankster".

Monday, January 10, 2011

Marty Abrahams class at SVA

I spent part of my morning with the first year animation students at School of Visual Arts. We talked about the stop motion animation program at SVA, watched some of my animation shorts and the students practiced shooting stop motion with some wire armatures. It was a fun time for all.

Wednesday, January 5, 2011

Edwin Pagan & "The Talisman" short film

Met with Director / DP, Edwin Pagan and discussed the creation of a mechanical puppet for his up coming short film, "The Talisman".