WHEW! After countless hours and weekends of work (okay, so the weekends are much more countable than the hours)– crunch time has come and gone and once again, the world is silent.

Silent?

Okay, okay– so by that, I mean a regular, non-CalArts status of noise will be flowing through the cubes. Countless workaholic sleepy animators are currently slumbering away in their beds (AND RIGHTFULLY SO!)

I turned in my film at approximately 11:57 PM on Saturday, the 18th. Right before that I got my final soundtrack mixed (but certainly not mixed-up)– all that went without a hitch and I’ll be the 13th film in the Open Show!  (That’s within the first 25 minutes, so…. show up at 2 PM on Saturday the 25th– yes, this Saturday– before things get TOO wild and crazy– and you’ll catch its premiere)! 😀

I would like to encourage you to compare my storyboards with some final screen captures. I’m amazed at how “refined” it turned out 🙂

Though I finished a couple of nights ago, I couldn’t resist but peek in on the smelly Mac labs two hours before the deadline today at 5 PM. Smelly? Why but OF COURSE! When you cram two dozen animators into a warm room filled with computers for 3+ days straight, it’ll get to the point of knocking you over if you’re not prepared for it. I’m quite surprised Matthew didn’t go in there and attack the air with his can of Lysol, like he did when someone cracked open one of the moldy refrigerators last semester.

BUT THAT’S A WHOLE ‘NOTHER STORY!

All that matters is: the Open Show deadline hit; complaints were filed about the servers going a-wonk; the deadline was stretched an hour and some people made it, and others didn’t. In the end, I think we all learned a lot– if not by making our own film, then by helping with other’s. (I got to animate some bats for Jushtin, which was cool). Celebrating with sushi was the perfect way to celebrate… And now people are wandering around, reminiscent of zombies, wondering: What do we do next?! Our films are done and turned in!

Fortunately I’ve got designs, illustrations and visdev in progress for a children’s book I wrote. My current goal is to get a deal with a publisher, then work on my book over summer! (Just a hint– it’s about color theory).

I’m really pleased with VALUE BLiND, the film I turned in this year. (I suppose I had time to slap together a 2nd film, but by the time I HAD time to make it two weeks ago, I felt that what I did in VALUE BLiND was satisfactory enough for my first year at CalArts!)

Here’s to an AMAZING Open Show on Saturday! Congradulations to all who made it, and to those who didn’t– you still had AMAZING work, and I hope to see your films sometime… soon 😀