White Zombie

White Zombie

White zombie is an interesting movie to me because it marks the debut of a monster that is quite popular today. Though the zombies in the movie don’t act the way the ones in the movies do today, they are an important part of what made the creatures that we know today.

The movie starts off with a couple, set to be married, settling in to a large castle, where they will be staying the night before the wedding. Apparently the setting was supposed to be Haiti, which I think is kind of odd because there is a castle there. Perhaps there are castles in Haiti, but it’s not the first place I would imagine having one. Reguardless, on the way to the castle, the couple runs into a voodoo doctor who is using the zombies as servants for a sugar mill. When they arrive at the castle, the owner secretly disappears and speaks to “Murder,”(Bela Lugosi)  voodoo man. He gives the man a potion to transform her and he slips her the potion.

At this point her mind goes blank and the owner, Charles, begins to regret his decision. Neil, the girl’s soon to be husband, saves the day, breaks the curse, and kills both Murder and Charles, via a cliff near the ocean. My favorite character had to be Murder. Bela Lugosi brought a way of acting to the table that was spooky, intriguing, and sadly dismissed these days.

Most of the conflict was between Charles and his decision to transform Madeleine. This is a bit odd, since he is a villain, technically. You don’t normally see antagonists at the receiving end of conflict for the whole movie. Ultimately his decision leads to his death, when he realizes that he has to stop Murder from transforming more people.

Robin Hood (2010)

Holy snap, I love Robin Hood! When I heard about this movie a while back, I was pretty psyched to see some robbing…with hoods. So one could understand how shocked I was when I saw the previews for Ridley Scott’s 2010 version. Featuring no robbing, and very few hoods, are two big mistakes one can make when making a “Robin Hood” movie. I must also note that I’m really tired of that bland, generic, filter they’re putting over medieval movies to make them look darker. In fact, that’s this movie’s biggest issue. It’s very, very, generic.

As for the plot…the whole thing was painted so bland I really don’t remember too many details story wise. The best I can gather is that this all takes place before the events of the story that we know as Robin Hood. Several historical people, whose names I cannot remember do to poor pacing, are having themselves a war. Robin and friends are recruited to fight, and upon returning, tells the king what he thinks about him. The king breaks his promise not to persecute anyone for the opinions shared at that time, and Robin and his friends are taken captive. (Big surprise) Robin then spends the rest of the movie showing the people the king is a very bad guy, and that their political system is not all that hot.

There’s also some hints that Robin’s father designed the democratic system and some other random bits that all end when the higher ups (the king and his men) eventually decide that Robin has been a very bad man, and is labeled an outlaw.

Because of this declaration, during the last ten minutes of the movie, there is a fight, some arrows, and it finally started acting like a Robin Hood movie instead of a high budget history channel special.

The only character that was even remotely interesting was Marian, if not for the fact that she seemed just a bit more realistic then your typical “Maid Marian” character. She’s cold towards Robin for the first half of the movie, but warms up to him after he shows her how “politically impressive” he can be. Seems like a weird thing to get off on, but whatever. The whole movie was apparently rewritten several times. The first time as Robin and the sheriff in swapped good and evil roles, the second time, as Robin and the sheriff as the same person, then rewritten so that Robin becomes the sheriff…then they must have gotten tired of trying to be creative and opted for historical accuracy. 

Messing with the comic

I've been very busy tweaking things for the next part of the comic. Although I don't really have anything to show for it, I've learned a lot about how I work as an artist. I think I've finally found a way to balance my unruly art style, with some checks and balances that should make things look much cleaner in the future.

Messing around with flash

Yah, so I haven't been doing too much concept art this week. I've been busy tinkering with my new toy. I've been performing some experiments to test the limitations of the system and see how I will use it in my personal work flow process. I've learned a lot this week, and I think it's something that I feel really strongly about.

I'll also be updating the website a bit more this week, and see if I can fit in some places for more animations like these...except longer...and more dynamic...with fire. (cuz fire iz c00!)

The Princess and the Frog

The Princess and the Frog is Disney’s new take on an old story. The new parts are really just there to extend what otherwise would be a very, very short story.

Said story takes place in a town in Louisiana, who’s residents apparently communicate frequently though large choreographed sing and dance numbers. One of these residents is a girl named Tiana, who dreams of opening a world class restaurant. As it so happens, a prince is also visiting from his homeland, in order to marry into more money. The prince is cornered by the mysterious “Shadowman,” and morphed into a frog. Tiana runs into the prince and, after some haggling, agrees to kiss the prince in his frog form just like in E.D. Baker’s novel.

At this point things go a little haywire and instead Tiana is transformed into a frog as well. During their journey they run into several characters who help them figure out how to regain their original forms. In the end, the Shadowman is defeated, and the characters realize that “all they need is love.” (Yes, that was a Beetles reference.) This is a Disney move after all, it’s mostly expected how things play out.

This brings me to my one, out of two, complaints about this movie. It seems as thought the production team was given a checklist of things to put in, in a certain order, with very few surprising events. (Though, there are a few.) It’s like Disney left them a manual that has been collecting dust all this time, and the animators have just now decided to pick it up…and follow it in a deliberate, literal, and cult like way. Don’t get me wrong, Disney was a good animator, but I don’t think he was looking for a formula to follow for ever, like the kind the Disney staff seems to be searching for. He was an innovator after all.

The second complain revolves around the interesting character of the Shadowman. Who’s motives were never really revealed outside of the mustache twirlingly clichéd plan to, brace yourself, take over the town. I cant help but feel that if the character was being manipulated or if I was supposed to feel sorry for him he would have faired much better. The reason it bothers me so much is , as with many Disney villains, the character is a visual marvel to watch, more so then any of the good guys for sure.

All in all, it’s a good movie. Just don’t expect any variations on the “Disney formula.”

Tooth Girls

I think I'm going to make a themes every month from now on for my random pictures. These themes aren't something I'll be following as a set of rules, but more as a set of guidelines because I'm bored. These are the kinds of games I play in my spare time.

I've completed more pages on the website. I'll work on that more tonight.

I've been doing some heavy thinking about the next part of the comic, and I've decided to try to turn it into something a little more "unique." I don't want to say anything about it yet because I really don't want to commit to something I don't feel that strongly about. We'll just see where it goes.

I'm also setting up some animation stuff, shorts, more specifically.