Changes afoot

Well, how bout that, I actually decided to write after an extended leave of absence. I am now working as a contracted Graphic Designer for the same movie studio that have been working at for over 3 1/2 years. I really enjoy what I am currently doing, and even got to do some design work for the new iTunes rentals program that was just rolled out. See if you can spot the movies I worked on. Besides that there are websites, logos, Facebook pages, animations, ads and all sorts of things I get to design every day...so there are no complaints, other than I am way more familiar with Gossip Girl and One Tree Hill than I would like to be. I am still looking for full time work however and there are a few things on the horizon, but for now I couldn't have asked for a better position. My wife is expecting our third child at any time right now, so with three boys, I decided to start another blog that focuses more on the family side than the industry side. Check it out if you wish! And let me know if you're still reading this...

Boring Update

I actually get a chance to update this thing and honestly have nothing really exciting to share. I just finished a massive design project for a company pitching a mechanical idea. I don’t have much experience in Industrial Illustration, but I think they came out all right. As far as the movie business goes, I’m actually getting excited to see Beowulf and I am Legend…two movies I am working on. I think it’s fascinating some of the stuff we are coming up with. It seems internationally, there is a much more immersive digital experience with films than domestically. I’ll let you know of any cool stuff once it’s made available. On the home front, my wife and kids are out of town visiting her family, so I am left here to slave away and work. I’m going to Arizona this weekend to visit my sis and watch Colorado (my alum) take on Arizona State. Colorado should loose. Wow, this really is a boring post.

New Project

I was commandeered for a design project that usually isn’t something I’d be interested in. However, it posed a significant challenge so of course I took it. I’m designing a card reader/dispenser for shipping labels to go directly on drop boxes. While the project is a little more complicated and multi-faceted than that brief description, the image should give you a general Idea of what I’ve done so far. Changes and revisions are coming soon. I found this really cool site that tracks the IP addresses of those who update or change Wikipedia articles. It actually finds out if those IP addresses are attached to any companies and then outs them for tampering with data to suit their corporate needs. Too bad changing Wikipedia isn’t illegal or that would be some rap sheet. This is by far the funniest movie review I have ever read especially the part about Peruvian chickens. This site just plain rocks! Who knew that microwaves could light up Christmas lights?

Star Power

The two lead actresses in two of our upcoming films are not happy with the movies at all. In fact it was put as “Actress A hates her film only slightly less than Actress B hates her film.” Now, this may not seem like a big deal (other than the fact that they signed on for the film in the first place), but it’s really hard to market a movie when the star freaking’ hates the thing. That means no to limited press, publicity, junkets, presence of the star of the show. Can that kill a film? No, but it makes our jobs a lot harder trying to convince the peoples to watch a movie when even the lead hates it. In other news, they are trying to re-vamp the punisher movie franchise (hey, maybe third times a charm). I loved the comic but hated the movie. Oh, and I wanna eat one of these because it looks positively hideous.

RIP

Ingmar Bergman and Michelangelo Antonioni. I don't know why, but I'm a little saddened at the passing of these two directors. I'm also a little freaked out that they died on the same day. If you do not know who they are, I recommend finding out. Such subversive and lasting images.

Random

I swear, there was something really cool that I was going to write about but I can’t for the life of me remember what that was. Me and my wife are going through withdrawal as our eldest son Kayden is gone for the week with his grandparents. It’s amazing how much he can brighten your day and just change the course of your whole mood. Work hasn’t let up and I’m sure it’s just going to get busier with the holiday films coming up on the slate. This position is really intriguing as I get to see the backside of how to market a movie across the globe. I am also now addicted to Facebook, it’s clean, easy to use and is much more user friendly and less trashy than MySpace. I’ve posted a lot of pics up over there if anyone is interested.

I Am Legend

One of the perks of my new job is being able to read scripts of upcoming films. I was able to read the script for ‘I Am Legend’ and was actually very impressed. It made for some quick good reading and I was thoroughly engrossed. Keep in mind this movie is skewered towards my demographic, but who doesn’t like a good action/apocalypse film every now and then. It takes place in the future 3 years after the worlds population has supposedly been wiped out by an unknown virus. The last survivor holes up in NYC, looking for some hope in his bleak situation. It is ingenious what the main character does to survive in a world bent on annihilating him. Needless to say, a plot is drummed up and I was pleasantly surprised by the end…even though a little Hollywood happy, it actually brings in a message of universal love. Who’d of thought?