Our Temporary Studio

I just wanted to show you guys a few pics of our temporary studio! This is Mabuya, the building where we're creating our short film, Kappa-Chan. It was originally built as a medical clinic for the community in the 1920's with a live in doctor so there's also living areas inside. 

From my understanding the clinic was closed and it had sat unoccupied for close to 20 years but a group of talented local people under the banner Kizuki-kai wanted to breathe new life into it and make it back into an important part of the community.

All volunteering their time and skills, they completely renovated the building, preserving the traditional methods in which it was originally built. 

It's incredibly inspiring to be working and creating something in this place. It's deceptively massive inside and the craftsmanship is mind bending. You could write books on just how they even selected the wood. I even stumbled upon an official secret room. (Don't leave me alone in a building with a secret room. I WILL FIND IT.)

We're the first group to live and work in the building post renovations but this place will go on to house offices, a cafe (which is up and running and has amazing apple pie), be a meeting place for the community, and to house other artists in the future. It's been an amazing experience living in working here and we're so grateful to all the amazing folks at Kizuki-kai and for this wonderful opportunity.

~D

I Drink my Water from a Wolf's Footprint.

I was listening to Misfits and this just happened. It's their power. They are the evil ones.

I should really get back to work...

Kappa-Chan!

Hey Folks! We're rocket-shipping towards the delivery date for the short so we're happy to finally share the film's title: "Kappa-Chan!" The film's first screening will happen here in Tottori Nov 30th and Dec 1st, 2013 (more details to follow) and we'll be releasing it online shortly after. For more news about the short, art, and a video series documenting the project, you can click HERE or on the banner above!

We first arrived in Tottori a few days before we were to begin production so I luckily had some time to wander around. Maki's from Japan but I've only been here twice before so there's still a ton of magic and mystery about this place. Shrines dedicated to Dragons, water you can drink right from the rivers, the largest hornets on the planet, and forests so dense you can't walk through. Scarily inspiring. Tottori was actually home to the legendary manga artist Shigeru Mizuki. His work is as amazing as it is unique and I can see how a place like this could help fuel his manga.

Alright I'll leave you with a few pics and shoot you some more soon. Thanks for stopping by and don't forget to check out our progress on the short over at Sing Along Pictures!

Talk to you soon!

Short(film) Update!

Hey folks! Just wanted to drop you a line and give you some updates on the short film. Our time in Japan has been a great experience so far. Really fun, very inspiring, and I only had to go to the hospital once! (Well 4 times but that story is for another time). There's also giant hornets here so I've done some jogging as well.

The short is going well! We're a crazy small team. Myself writing, directing, and storyboarding, 2 Designers, 1 Animator, 1 Editor, and 2 Musicians. We also have a pretty tight deadline, just over 5 weeks. If you know animation, you know that's... well, difficult. As challenging as it's been, it's been really great to try and figure out creative ways to finish in a way we enjoy.

If you're interested in watching our film develop, we've been posting art and video clips over at the Sing Along Pictures blog HERE

Alright, back to it! Enjoy your day and I'll update you guys again soon!

~D

Off to JAPAN...

I have some news on my end to share. Sing Along Pictures was invited to Daisen, Japan to create an animated short film in collaboration with Shiho Oshita!

So far we have a pretty amazing team. Maki Fujimoto and Shiho Oshita will be heading up Design, Kayoko Nagashima will be in charge of Animation, Oscar Mar will be our Editor, Azumi Akai will be Coordinating, and I'll be Writing/Directing. We of course are incredibly grateful for the invitation and all the effort and hard work of the terrific people from Konosaki and Kizuki-kai who have put this entire thing together. Literally everyone has been extremely generous and supportive so a huge thank you goes out to them.

I'm crazy excited. We'll be holding an Open Studio, Artist Workshops, and be presenting the final short film December 3rd, so if you're in the area, we'd love to see you! To find out more information you can click HERE. I'll also be posting updates as thing move along here on the blog.

Alright, I'll be talking to you fine folk again soon!

~D

Hot Toys/Enterbay's: Bruce Lee

Enterbay

Hot Toys

There have been many folk out there who have rightfully paid homage to one humanity's greatest representatives, the incredible Bruce Lee, and apart from the also great Samo Hung, two of my current favorites have managed to capture him amazingly: China's ENTERBAY and HOT TOYS.

These are just TWO examples of both companies multiple, eerily good, tributes to the legend. JUST TWO!

Oh gods, they are so goooooooooooooood... Check them out if you value happiness.

~D

JAY Z x MARK ROMANEK

Man...

This is just so exciting to me. Look at how these people are reacting during the performance: Laughing, dancing, singing, getting close, interacting with each other... beyond that, artists created this film and stuck it online, expanding it's reach, and creating these reactions in thousands of others.... all from one dude standing in a room and expressing himself.

What belongs in a gallery? This performance is showing it isn't just for priceless paintings and sculpture. The truth is, when you boil it all down, it all does, folks. Get out there. Join Jay. Join me. Join everybody out there whose doing it and and express yourself. Look what can happen.

Amazing performance from Jay Z and his team and a great film by Mark Romanek. Pretty wonderful stuff...

~D