April saw a variety of things in different areas of exploration. That makes me sound like I discovered something crazy. And I guess I did something crazy as far as my own live is concerned.
I took several different classes and saw a bit more of the country.
1. Took a sailing class starting at the end of April. Oddly enough I started up the class the morning after my first big night on the town here in Wellington. Tune in to next month's "New Stuff" to learn about me quitting my first sailing class the day of the last class. Fuck you Dean.
2. Hosted my first Couchsurfer. Really nice chap named Brian Cohen. He's the first of about 10 or so that I've hosted so far. Incredibly nice American guy, wish I'd had a chance to hang out with him more. I think within a week of him being here I hosted Ruby. She was awesome as well. English lass with just a huge heart for adventure and a wonderful personality. I was well on my way to falling in love with couchsurfing.
3. Took a couple cooking classes. This one that was North African (Moroccan mainly) and a Spanish one. Didn't get to go to all of the spanish class but made some good friends in the African one so that was pretty rockin.
4. Almost killed myself and a friend when we accidentally climbed a mountain. We decided to visit the Putingirua Pinnacles about 3 hours east of Wellington. They filmed some LOTR stuff there so it seemed like it might be a cool little trek. Little did we know, but the "easist" path ended up being this 2 hour hike up a huge mountain. When we finished we both just sat there and prayed for a quick death. The walk back took like 30 minutes. Never again will I trust guideposts in Kiwiland that say something is easy. They're lying, cause kiwis are mutants. Plain and simple.
5. Did a bit of work on Tintin. Nothing too crazy, but another flick none the less.
6. Me and the rest of the Creatures Department got to visit the Weta Workshop. It was pretty damn wicked to tell the truth. Things that really stick out in my mind still are seeing the "Hall of Weapons" and getting to ride on the life size Warthog tank from Halo. That was amazing.
So that was April. A couple big things, couple small things, and luckily I didn't drown.
Cheers,
Malcolm.
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Thursday, July 31, 2008
Extra March Thing
Somehow I totally forgot that I went Quad Biking with the other people from my department back in March. It was a lot of fun. We went up near the Kapiti Coast (South Western part of the North Island of NZ) and biked for about 4 hours. It was a bit rainy so there were awesome puddles everywhere and it just ended up being great fun.
We went up, around and over a mountain or two and was scared shitless more than once because I looked over the edge of the cliff that was about a meter away from me.
BOOYAH!
Cheers,
Malcolm.
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We went up, around and over a mountain or two and was scared shitless more than once because I looked over the edge of the cliff that was about a meter away from me.
BOOYAH!
Cheers,
Malcolm.
Full Post/Permalink
Wednesday, July 30, 2008
WRITING: "First Flight"
Again, written for CGTalk. Maybe someone will make something of this. Would be pretty cool.
"First Flight"
On a spaceship, a father stands watch at the side of the pilot's chair as his 17 year old son slowly maneuvers into a spacedock. The camera cuts back and forth between the docking clamps and the son as he slowly and cautiously goes forward.
Everything is going good and the father beams with pride. The clamps are just about to engage when the son looks back at his father. He sees the look of pride and he accidentally hits the gas. The ships jumps forward and is mere inches from slamming into the dock when the son flicks a switch. The reverse jets click on and stop their forward motion. The father sighs loudly and the boy looks back at him as he's moving his hand back to the wheel. The father's eyes go wide as the son grazes a switch. The son turns to look at what he'd he almost done and hits the switch.
New rockets fire shooting the ship away from the rock. The father is thrown forward into the "windshield". The son slams forward into the control panel and hits other switches. The ship stops long enough for the father to fall to the ground. Outside the ship panels open up and more rockets emerge from them. They quickly fire before anyone can stop them in the ship and the little ship jets toward the dock.
The father and son are both slammed to the back of the cockpit, screaming. They grab onto each other and scream mindlessly as they watch the dock getting closer and closer.
The docking clamps are the closest thing to the ship and as the ship gets closer and closer we zoom in and watch the clamps. Time slows as clamps make contact with the dock. From the point of a force shield materializes. The dock is fine but as we pull back and time speeds up. the ship slams full force into it.
The ship buckles as it impacts and an electrical pulse ripples around it before a full on explosion starts at it's core and spreads out in all directions.
Ships in the distance watch as the explosions rips thru space at them. They turn on their shields just in time but the imensity of the explosion makes the skies go solid white.
As the explosion fades from view we're left with gnarled pieces of debris floating thru space outside the spacedock. A small lifepod floats by, rotating free in space.
Inside the pod, the father and son sit in a tangled mass of confusion. The son gets up first and sees that they're floating free thru space. He jumps into the pilot's chair. The father slowly stands and walks towards the seat. He smacks his son on the back of the head. The son quickly jumps up and steps aside from the seat with his head bowed towards the ground. The father grabs him and gives him a hug then walks over to the pilot's seat.
Cheers,
Malcolm.
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"First Flight"
On a spaceship, a father stands watch at the side of the pilot's chair as his 17 year old son slowly maneuvers into a spacedock. The camera cuts back and forth between the docking clamps and the son as he slowly and cautiously goes forward.
Everything is going good and the father beams with pride. The clamps are just about to engage when the son looks back at his father. He sees the look of pride and he accidentally hits the gas. The ships jumps forward and is mere inches from slamming into the dock when the son flicks a switch. The reverse jets click on and stop their forward motion. The father sighs loudly and the boy looks back at him as he's moving his hand back to the wheel. The father's eyes go wide as the son grazes a switch. The son turns to look at what he'd he almost done and hits the switch.
New rockets fire shooting the ship away from the rock. The father is thrown forward into the "windshield". The son slams forward into the control panel and hits other switches. The ship stops long enough for the father to fall to the ground. Outside the ship panels open up and more rockets emerge from them. They quickly fire before anyone can stop them in the ship and the little ship jets toward the dock.
The father and son are both slammed to the back of the cockpit, screaming. They grab onto each other and scream mindlessly as they watch the dock getting closer and closer.
The docking clamps are the closest thing to the ship and as the ship gets closer and closer we zoom in and watch the clamps. Time slows as clamps make contact with the dock. From the point of a force shield materializes. The dock is fine but as we pull back and time speeds up. the ship slams full force into it.
The ship buckles as it impacts and an electrical pulse ripples around it before a full on explosion starts at it's core and spreads out in all directions.
Ships in the distance watch as the explosions rips thru space at them. They turn on their shields just in time but the imensity of the explosion makes the skies go solid white.
As the explosion fades from view we're left with gnarled pieces of debris floating thru space outside the spacedock. A small lifepod floats by, rotating free in space.
Inside the pod, the father and son sit in a tangled mass of confusion. The son gets up first and sees that they're floating free thru space. He jumps into the pilot's chair. The father slowly stands and walks towards the seat. He smacks his son on the back of the head. The son quickly jumps up and steps aside from the seat with his head bowed towards the ground. The father grabs him and gives him a hug then walks over to the pilot's seat.
Cheers,
Malcolm.
Full Post/Permalink
WRITING: "A Brief History of Aeronautics"
So every once and a while CGTalk does these VFX Challenge things. They're usually pretty cool and random people from all over the world participate. I was looking on the screenwriting page a month or ago and there was a request for short stories. So I whipped together a couple quick things based around the idea of a plane crash. Here's the first one.
"A Brief History of Aeronautics"
"Early Advances"
Scene:
Man with wings attached jumps off a cliff and flaps really hard. He maintains flight for a couple seconds. The wings fall apart and he goes tumbling down.
Scene:
Man running with a hangglider. Trips and slams face first into ground. A small fire starts and an assistant runs up and stomps him out.
"Eventual Successes"
Scene:
Rickety old plane flies along. Camera pans with it and all is going well.
"Sorta..."
Scene:
Same plane crashes into a mountain and bursts into flames.
"Planes Evolved"
Scene:
Quick clips of modern planes and rocket ships.
"Sorta..."
Scene:
Jet takes off then crashes hard into the ground. Huge Explosion. Fire everywhere.
Scene:
Rocketship is starting it's ignition sequence and just as it's taking off fire rips thru the whole thing, blasting it to pieces.
Scene:
A plane is flying along and out of nowhere another plane rips thru it's side. Biggest explosion so far as both planes burst open throwing pieces in every direction. The two planes hurl towards the ground and hit with enough force to make a massive shockwave that knocks over cars and uproots trees.
"The Future"
Scene:
Man straps on a rocket pack. Gives a thumbs up to the camera and hits a button. He flies straight up and then it kicks to the right and slams him into a wall. The rockets keep firing, pinning him into the wall. After a moment, they stop. He starts to fall towards the ground and they fire again, buring him into the ground. A small mushroom cloud comes up from the hole in the ground.
"Buses"
Scene:
Really pretty, ultra polished, really graphic designy poster with a bus on it. Says something on it about new cross country rates being lowered or something of that nature.
"When's the last time one of them crashed into a mountain?"
Cheers,
Malcolm.
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"A Brief History of Aeronautics"
"Early Advances"
Scene:
Man with wings attached jumps off a cliff and flaps really hard. He maintains flight for a couple seconds. The wings fall apart and he goes tumbling down.
Scene:
Man running with a hangglider. Trips and slams face first into ground. A small fire starts and an assistant runs up and stomps him out.
"Eventual Successes"
Scene:
Rickety old plane flies along. Camera pans with it and all is going well.
"Sorta..."
Scene:
Same plane crashes into a mountain and bursts into flames.
"Planes Evolved"
Scene:
Quick clips of modern planes and rocket ships.
"Sorta..."
Scene:
Jet takes off then crashes hard into the ground. Huge Explosion. Fire everywhere.
Scene:
Rocketship is starting it's ignition sequence and just as it's taking off fire rips thru the whole thing, blasting it to pieces.
Scene:
A plane is flying along and out of nowhere another plane rips thru it's side. Biggest explosion so far as both planes burst open throwing pieces in every direction. The two planes hurl towards the ground and hit with enough force to make a massive shockwave that knocks over cars and uproots trees.
"The Future"
Scene:
Man straps on a rocket pack. Gives a thumbs up to the camera and hits a button. He flies straight up and then it kicks to the right and slams him into a wall. The rockets keep firing, pinning him into the wall. After a moment, they stop. He starts to fall towards the ground and they fire again, buring him into the ground. A small mushroom cloud comes up from the hole in the ground.
"Buses"
Scene:
Really pretty, ultra polished, really graphic designy poster with a bus on it. Says something on it about new cross country rates being lowered or something of that nature.
"When's the last time one of them crashed into a mountain?"
Cheers,
Malcolm.
Full Post/Permalink
RANDOM: George Lucas is god and other things...
In a recent article with the Times George Lucas talks about his past projects, his future goals, what he felt were the problems with Indy 4, and the fact that he's God. He doesn't exactly say that, opting for a "Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit" reference instead. Granted he's talking about the Star Wars Universe, but the crazy thing is that I can't really disagree with him. He's the "God" of that universe and that's totally cool cause it's his creation. I think it's just the people that view him as a literal god are taking it too far. For me, that's when fandom crosses over into the creepy.
Other than that I just found out about the new Joss Whedon series Dollhouse. I'm a huge Joss Whedon fan and actually have a TV series idea way on the backburner that I think is pretty heavily influenced by the style of his work (Angel mostly). So when I heard that he had a new show coming out I was at first hyped, then I watched the trailer and that hype started to die down in me. And not just because I'd had a similar idea a while ago, but obviously not as flushed out.
The basic premise of Dollhouse is that there are agents that get inplanted with fake memories and sent out on missions. At the end of each mission those memories are wiped. So they're a sorta blank slate. My problem with the idea now as when I was ever thinking about writing something, is that you create a built in end point. If the whole desire of the series is to watch these characters learn and grow become more then where do you go when that happens? Do they keep doing the cool and entertaining things they did before? Because if so then was the whole buildup just a cocktease? If what's going on with their lives is negative and they overcome it only to keep doing what they were doing then why did it matter that they were forced to begin with. And if they don't keep doing what they were doing then what's the point of the show now? I know that's a bit close minded, especially considering I've only seen the trailer, but that was just my first gut reaction. I'll watch it and I hope it's an amazing series, but it just hasn't grabbed me yet and that's what I thought trailers are for.
Cheers,
Malcolm.
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Other than that I just found out about the new Joss Whedon series Dollhouse. I'm a huge Joss Whedon fan and actually have a TV series idea way on the backburner that I think is pretty heavily influenced by the style of his work (Angel mostly). So when I heard that he had a new show coming out I was at first hyped, then I watched the trailer and that hype started to die down in me. And not just because I'd had a similar idea a while ago, but obviously not as flushed out.
The basic premise of Dollhouse is that there are agents that get inplanted with fake memories and sent out on missions. At the end of each mission those memories are wiped. So they're a sorta blank slate. My problem with the idea now as when I was ever thinking about writing something, is that you create a built in end point. If the whole desire of the series is to watch these characters learn and grow become more then where do you go when that happens? Do they keep doing the cool and entertaining things they did before? Because if so then was the whole buildup just a cocktease? If what's going on with their lives is negative and they overcome it only to keep doing what they were doing then why did it matter that they were forced to begin with. And if they don't keep doing what they were doing then what's the point of the show now? I know that's a bit close minded, especially considering I've only seen the trailer, but that was just my first gut reaction. I'll watch it and I hope it's an amazing series, but it just hasn't grabbed me yet and that's what I thought trailers are for.
Cheers,
Malcolm.
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Tuesday, July 29, 2008
January - March 08
Well now atleast I'm in the current year. So 2008 has so far been a completely crazy year for me and it all started in January, like most years do. So I rounded out last year by taking a couple weeks off between jobs. Visited family in the states, gave a second speech at my old school (Full Sail), and got to see friends and family that I haven't seen in a long time. All somewhat normal for me, but then came the craziness. So here's all the major things I remember from then.
January --
1. First time out of the country. Until like November of last year, I didn't even have a passport. So the 24 hours of travel to get to Wellington, New Zealand was a bit crazy. I flew from Nashville to Dallas to LA to Auckland to Wellington. So 24 hours and 21 hour jump ahead in time. I lost two days traveling. Hooray. But I was here. I was in New Zealand, the home of my dream job.
2. Started work for Weta Digital. It was a goal for about 5 years. Even before ever going to school for Computer Animation. I remember watching Fellowship of the Rings at my home in Kentucky and thinking about how amazing it would be to work here. Seeing Gandalf fight the Balrog still makes me smile, and now I'm in a position to work on something that will inspire people to do what I'm doing now. That's an amazing feeling. It's something that I can tell my Grandkids about (assuming I ever have kids and they have kids), and how many people can say that.
"Hey sonny, see this old movie that you think is pretty cheesy cause computers have advanced exponentially since my day?"
"Yeah? What about it?"
"I used the money from working on that to buy a jetski. "
"I love you grandad!"
3. Saw a good deal of the area around Wellington. Explored the Mount Victoria area a bit and generally just kinda got used to the area.
February --
4. Not completely sure what all happened that month but I think this is when I actually moved into my new apartment. I love the place because it's everything I've wanted from a place. Great view of the city from the interior and plenty of space to have friends over and whatnot.
5. Actually started working on Avatar (movie I'm here to work on, next James Cameron flick). So far I'm doing mainly cloth/hair setup and simulation but it's a really sweet project. Definitely something I can mention later in life, jetski or no.
March --
6. My major thing for March was joing couchsurfing becuase that continues to let me do new things all the time. If you've never heard of couchsurfing then i'll quickly explain what it's all about. Pretty much it's an international group of travelers and "travel enthusiasts" that meet with each other wherever they are and offer their home to fellow "surfers" if they have the space. So it gives you a chance to meet new people in a new area and have experiences with people that you would have never met otherwise. Truly a great idea and something that I'm consistantly happy about. So far I've hosted like 10 people or so, but more on that later.
At first with couchsurfing I thought it was a bit umm...."stupid" for lack of a better word to let people into your home that you don't know, but after meeting everyone in the Wellington group for lunch one day at Fidel's then I've been hooked to the community and to Fidel's.
My Profile.
7. Fidel's. If you're in Welly ever, go eat here. It's at the top of Cuba street and the only place in Welly I've been to that can make a decent milkshake. BOOYAH!!!!
Cheers,
Malcolm.
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January --
1. First time out of the country. Until like November of last year, I didn't even have a passport. So the 24 hours of travel to get to Wellington, New Zealand was a bit crazy. I flew from Nashville to Dallas to LA to Auckland to Wellington. So 24 hours and 21 hour jump ahead in time. I lost two days traveling. Hooray. But I was here. I was in New Zealand, the home of my dream job.
2. Started work for Weta Digital. It was a goal for about 5 years. Even before ever going to school for Computer Animation. I remember watching Fellowship of the Rings at my home in Kentucky and thinking about how amazing it would be to work here. Seeing Gandalf fight the Balrog still makes me smile, and now I'm in a position to work on something that will inspire people to do what I'm doing now. That's an amazing feeling. It's something that I can tell my Grandkids about (assuming I ever have kids and they have kids), and how many people can say that.
"Hey sonny, see this old movie that you think is pretty cheesy cause computers have advanced exponentially since my day?"
"Yeah? What about it?"
"I used the money from working on that to buy a jetski. "
"I love you grandad!"
3. Saw a good deal of the area around Wellington. Explored the Mount Victoria area a bit and generally just kinda got used to the area.
February --
4. Not completely sure what all happened that month but I think this is when I actually moved into my new apartment. I love the place because it's everything I've wanted from a place. Great view of the city from the interior and plenty of space to have friends over and whatnot.
5. Actually started working on Avatar (movie I'm here to work on, next James Cameron flick). So far I'm doing mainly cloth/hair setup and simulation but it's a really sweet project. Definitely something I can mention later in life, jetski or no.
March --
6. My major thing for March was joing couchsurfing becuase that continues to let me do new things all the time. If you've never heard of couchsurfing then i'll quickly explain what it's all about. Pretty much it's an international group of travelers and "travel enthusiasts" that meet with each other wherever they are and offer their home to fellow "surfers" if they have the space. So it gives you a chance to meet new people in a new area and have experiences with people that you would have never met otherwise. Truly a great idea and something that I'm consistantly happy about. So far I've hosted like 10 people or so, but more on that later.
At first with couchsurfing I thought it was a bit umm...."stupid" for lack of a better word to let people into your home that you don't know, but after meeting everyone in the Wellington group for lunch one day at Fidel's then I've been hooked to the community and to Fidel's.
My Profile.
7. Fidel's. If you're in Welly ever, go eat here. It's at the top of Cuba street and the only place in Welly I've been to that can make a decent milkshake. BOOYAH!!!!
Cheers,
Malcolm.
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someone that geuinely inspired me...
If you haven't heard about Randy Pausch, he's the Carnegie-Mellon professor that was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and given a short amount of time to live. He went on to be part of the "Last Lecture" series, wherin professors were asked to share what they felt were the most important lessons from their lives. His speech was both heartwarming and truly moving to me. Last friday Randy Pausch passed away, but I believe his impact will forever live on. I, for one, have been changed by his speech. It helped make me want to live the life I want.
Article about his passing
His Speech
Malcolm.
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Article about his passing
His Speech
Malcolm.
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Monday, July 28, 2008
All of 2007 - in quick review
2007!!! The year of the *pause to look up the chinese zodiac* Boar(Pig).
It was a long ass year for me and a lot of things came to an end. Quit my first awesome job, (Blur Studios October 05 - May 07), started working for and left my first job at my first major company (Sony Pictures Imageworks June 07 - October 07), and then worked for a dream company of mine since I was a child (Jim Henson Creatureshop October 07 - December 07).
Along the way I made a new demoreel, took a couple screen writing classes, wrote several short stories (some meant for live action, some not), and started on a screenplay that I'm half way thru that I really need to just finish already.
Overall the year was mainly focused on work and things of that nature. After leaving Sony I ended up landing a gig here in New Zealand working for Weta Digital, but that didn't start up til 2008 *another, slighter pause*. The year of Splinter, also known as the year of the Rat.
cheers,
malcolm.
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It was a long ass year for me and a lot of things came to an end. Quit my first awesome job, (Blur Studios October 05 - May 07), started working for and left my first job at my first major company (Sony Pictures Imageworks June 07 - October 07), and then worked for a dream company of mine since I was a child (Jim Henson Creatureshop October 07 - December 07).
Along the way I made a new demoreel, took a couple screen writing classes, wrote several short stories (some meant for live action, some not), and started on a screenplay that I'm half way thru that I really need to just finish already.
Overall the year was mainly focused on work and things of that nature. After leaving Sony I ended up landing a gig here in New Zealand working for Weta Digital, but that didn't start up til 2008 *another, slighter pause*. The year of Splinter, also known as the year of the Rat.
cheers,
malcolm.
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day 1...probably the last time i'll actually count this...
Blog as defined by dictionary.com
http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=blog
Main Entry: blog
Part of Speech: n
Definition: an online diary; a personal chronological log of thoughts published on a Web page; also called Weblog, Web log
Example: Typically updated daily, blogs often reflect the personality of the author.
Etymology: shortened form of Weblog
Usage: blog, blogged, blogging v, blogger n
So that's what I'm sorta starting right now. I made a recent decision in life, it was pretty small but massive at the same time. I decided to always be doing something new. Now I realize that to be impossible, so I scaled it down a bit. I'm not trying to do something new every day of my life, would be amazing, but instead I'm trying to do something new each month and if every day has a new adventure then rock on.
Now you might be saying, all 3 of you out there that might someday read this, that sounds simple. And to you, the nay-sayers, I agree. It is simple, it's in fact quite easy, but how many people do it? How "easy" is it to just go with your normal routine and never try for anything else.
So to anyone that reads this I challenge you to do something new each month, and see what happens.
In the next week I'll update in what all I've done new to this point and hopefully keep going with it, because I challenged myself to never stop this and I'm too stubborn to let myself win.
Cheers,
Malcolm.
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http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=blog
Main Entry: blog
Part of Speech: n
Definition: an online diary; a personal chronological log of thoughts published on a Web page; also called Weblog, Web log
Example: Typically updated daily, blogs often reflect the personality of the author.
Etymology: shortened form of Weblog
Usage: blog, blogged, blogging v, blogger n
So that's what I'm sorta starting right now. I made a recent decision in life, it was pretty small but massive at the same time. I decided to always be doing something new. Now I realize that to be impossible, so I scaled it down a bit. I'm not trying to do something new every day of my life, would be amazing, but instead I'm trying to do something new each month and if every day has a new adventure then rock on.
Now you might be saying, all 3 of you out there that might someday read this, that sounds simple. And to you, the nay-sayers, I agree. It is simple, it's in fact quite easy, but how many people do it? How "easy" is it to just go with your normal routine and never try for anything else.
So to anyone that reads this I challenge you to do something new each month, and see what happens.
In the next week I'll update in what all I've done new to this point and hopefully keep going with it, because I challenged myself to never stop this and I'm too stubborn to let myself win.
Cheers,
Malcolm.
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