Howdy, Stranger.

While I'm not back from vacation in the hot & humid hills of West By God Virginia, the music video for Kirby Krackle's single "On And On" just went live on the interwebs yesterday and I wanted to share it.  This is the project we were breaking our asses to get done before this last weekend so we could have a vacation with a clear conscience.  For those of you who aren't Wolverine or X-Men fans, the song is about the character Logan (aka Wolverine), who is one of the most overworked comic book characters ever.  It deals with the exhaustion and monotony of being a nearly immortal character whose sole existence is either preparing for or recovering from a fight.



It was shot over four days (two weekends) using two Canon DSLRs (a T2i and a 7D) and an awesome cast and crew of professionals working on tiny stipends and coffee.  I'm really proud of my cast and crew, even prouder of my producing partner Dan Heinrich, and extremely grateful to Kirby Krackle for the opportunity to do this project.  I'd been joking with JD Green for ten years that I wanted to do a Wolverine fan film once he was age-appropriate (because as much as we all love Hugh Jackman, he's sure not an authentic physical representation of the character, whereas JD exudes Logan-ness from his every pore).

Anyway, we finally did it, and it's a piece we're proud of.  Feel free to re-post and forward to your comic book geek friends.

I'll be back in a few days with more regular posts.  For now, I'm enjoying the slow pace of a hillbilly vacation.  Where's my banjo??

All Apologies

I know it's been a few weeks without news, but it's for a good reason, I swear.  I've been nose-down in this music video project for this band, and although I can't go into detail at the moment, I will soon be able to tell all.

Your patience is appreciated.

Missing Dad

Five years ago today, I was a widowed dad in his mid-30s, trying to raise a couple kids while half in shock and half bracing for my dad's own cancer crisis.  Five years ago today, we adopted our dog Wiley.  That very afternoon, I called my dad in the hospital to let him know we had a new family member of the four-legged variety.  He didn't have his speech capabilities back after the third emergency brain surgery and could only cry into the phone, happy in the knowledge that we were protected and loved.

Five years ago today, mere hours after my phone call to him, I got the call from the hospital that he had suffered a pulmonary embolism and that the crash team was working on him.  Five years ago today, I lost my dad.  It was the second barrel in the shotgun of loss, barely one month after losing Samantha.

Although I'm well down the road life has set before me, I still remember that time.  Whereas many of my memories are clear and vivid, everything from that time is tinged with fog, like an old photograph.  As if it were not quite real.  Makes sense, really.  Who would want it to be?

Love you, Pop.  Always.

Adorable.

This showed up in my Facebook newsfeed this morning.  Friggin' great Iron Man fan parody.  Enjoy.

Dang.

My, how time flies when you're in preproduction and fighting a cold.  Simultaneously.  Yes, it's been quite the circus at the Circle-D Ranch over the past couple weeks.  It occurs that the last time I posted was just prior to Tyler's 16th birthday - which was, to be diplomatic, a less-than-stellar event.  While I won't go into specifics (for the sake of Tyler's privacy), it would be naive to pretend that his issues have no impact upon the family; they do, in a big way.  I remember what being 16 felt like, and much of our patience derives from that.  But there are much deeper, organic issues at work, which make for a very tense, difficult family life.  And we'd be remiss as parents if we just shrugged, chalked it up to mere adolescence, and let him self-destruct.  So we've taken a much stronger position and begun vastly more comprehensive therapeutic measures.

So that's the homefront.  Oh yeah, and I got Kayleigh's cold from a couple weeks ago.  That was fun.

Now, onto the work stuff, wherein I am tasked with directing the music video for "On And On" by Seattle nerd-rock band Kirby Krackle.  I have a complete behind-the-scenes post forming in my head, but right now it's a bit premature.  What I can say about the project is that it's a fan film for a beloved comic book character, as well as a promotional video for the band.  And we start shooting in a week.  It'll be great working with some of my favorite film folks, as well as some new contacts.



I also picked up Adobe Creative Suite 4 Master Collection, which has everything I could possibly need for my dual vocation of publisher & filmmaker.  Finishing that last portion of Arrowflight Second Edition and storyboarding "On And On".

It's very exciting.

RIP Frank Frazetta (1928-2010)

The art world lost one of its treasures yesterday.  Frank Frazetta was one of my idols, not just in his professional career of more than half a century, not just because of his revolutionary painting style and realistic treatment of human anatomy, but also because the man pioneered illustrators' rights in the world of commercial art.  It is because of the latter that many of my working artist friends retain the copyright to their work after delivery.  Used to be 100% work-for-hire.  The pulp magazines would pay artists a pittance and end up owning the original art.  Frank was among the first to employ the concept of publication rights and various licenses.  Nowadays, work-for-hire contracts are the exception.

In the above paragraph, I noted his realistic treatment of human anatomy.  Famed for painting lush fantasy landscapes populated by scantily-clad barbarian warriors, princesses and slave girls, Frank put meat on his subjects.  Unlike the subjects of artists to follow, like Boris Vallejo (who used bodybuilder models), Frank's characters weren't slick and full of unnecessary detail.  They might be muscular and huge, but it wasn't overstated.  His men were just as naked (if not more so) as his women.  His women had curves.  They had boobs, and tummies and dimpled asses.  I think it was probably my exposure to that ethic of "normal-as-beautiful" at such a young age that somewhat influenced the physical traits I found attractive in a partner. 

He was also the master of capturing an incredible amount of energy in one moment and putting it on canvas.  Look at any one of his hundreds of pieces, no matter if it's an action shot or a character in repose; the people in his paintings are simply exuding an energy of their own.  They're alive, in that one moment captured.

There is simply too much to write about Frank, his influence upon generations of artists, illustrators, filmmakers and photographers.  About his influence upon popular culture in general.  About his influence upon the business side of commercial and fantasy art.  But his legacy is clear, and will be felt for generations to come.  I'm proud to have lived in his time.

Fair winds, Frank.

Iron Man 2 Rocked My Ass Off

It is always a welcome surprise when a director who got started on quirky romantic comedies (like Swingers, Made and Elf) is able to take an enormous cast of Hollywood A talent, stupid money and make a summer blockbuster action flick based on a comic book -- and a sequel at that -- and pump it full of pathos, humor and action without letting it go off the rails.

Once again, Jon Favreau, you are the man.

I won't go into any spoilers, but I must mention that the cast is amazing, from Robert Downey Jr.'s "second act" portrayal of playboy Tony Stark to Mickey Rourke's sinister Russian bad-ass, Whiplash.  From Sam Rockwell's sleazy military industrialist, Justin Hammer, to Don Cheadle's idealistic Colonel Rhodes, to Samuel L. Jackson's acerbic Nick Fury, to Scarlett Johansson's sleek and bringin' it Black Widow.

Let the gals have their sparkly vampires and shirtless werewolf bad boys.  When Scarlett dons her Black Widow costume and goes all Emma-Peel-meets-Jason-Statham on the bad guys, it's enough to make any boy lose his geek shit.

As I've said, no complaints about the acting and script, and the story actually works well, both on its own and as part of a much greater whole.  A whole which includes the upcoming Captain America, Thor and Avengers franchises.  In fact, stay for the post-credits teaser.  You can thank me later.  It does get big and loud and intense, but it stays true to vision and never strays off into wackiness. 

I guess it just tickles me when a guy who has a gift for character and story gets put at the helm of a big-budget comic book adaptation and pulls it off.  It tickles me even more that he does it with the sequel.  Bryan Singer has come close.  Sam Raimi has come close.  And as hampered by 1970s photochemical effects as he was, Richard Doner came close.  But nobody has pulled off a comic book movie franchise with the level of character chemistry and good storytelling in the midst of spectacle quite as well as Favreau. That, to me, is impressive, especially in an age where Hollywood is not as concerned with character chemistry and story as it is with the explosions and the toy marketing and let's have Superman fight a giant spider in the third act.

Nice going, Jon.