The Rocket-Man log book of 2002-2003

I've been doing a lot of tidying up recently and going through old stuff. I found the Rocket-Man logbook that I did in 2002, but I've not opened it up yet.

Rocket-man was the first animation I directed in my third year at college, it was a point in my life where it was confirmed to me, that this is what I’m meant to do in life. I’m not really one that’s very good with words really, but that’s the only way I can describe it, it was like what they call, a single moment of clarity.

The photo cannot be seen without this bit of text, so definitely a case for the text accompanying the photo, being essential here, the two cannot exist on their own.

Now you may think, well why?...why photo this?...and well I may or may not be able to really cover it properly...for a stranger to look at this photo it would mean nothing?...well it might not actually, it shows dust build up on a book and desk. As humans we’re fighting a constant war on dust build up, but I tend to forget about time, the hours each day go by so extremely fast that I just simply don’t dust very often in certain areas of the room. But you then look at it and think “shit me look at that!, a lot of time has gone by hasn’t it?” the dust is another way of measuring time.

But yes, it’s a bit of a selfish photo I think also. It reminds me of college, and well, I really enjoyed college at times. I loved the pressure of the assignments and the people, and like I say its where I really focused in on being a filmmaker. So that in itself, to me, is a moment that’s like the beginning of something. So I spose this book is the birth of it all.

EMAILING PEOPLE YOU DON’T KNOW VERY WELL - WITH LONG EXPLANATIONS ON MISUNDERSTANDINGS THAT HAVE HAPPENED OVER THE LAST 5 MONTHS:

This is all about my next door neighbour, who possibly MIGHT think that my cheese has fallen off my cracker. Personally, I felt that there was this build up of misunderstanding, but I think I’ve screwed things up further, My mother is right, I shouldn’t have sent anything...but I was just wanting some large communication / pouring out of mind - of how I feel, to be written down and sent out, there is so much misunderstanding in the world, its huge. I thought maybe it would help, and I hope it has. But I have this horrible feeling that it hasn’t.

I've just today started to read about the self-fulfilling prophecy, which I think is maybe what this is?...which is upsetting, I must learn to relax though, and not worry too much about what has happened.

I think past events go towards my problem. And as a good friend of mine said to me recently, I try very very hard, a lot of the time to be understood because of my past.

The thing is that while it’s a big deal to me, its very possible that it may not be a big deal to them. Its further possible that they may not even remember most of what it is your going on about...we just don’t know. My life is so very low key that every time I go outside and interact with people, I come back and remember the entire thing with a lot of detail.

This is the third time that its happened. The first was a girl at college, the second was the South West Scottish Screen Commissioner and now the next door neighbour. Well actually the South West Scottish Screen Commissioner was getting a bit of a blasts of personal problems on the production of my film, it was something that I didn’t need to write out to him, but maybe because I have no social life, I feel the urge to write out problems in long letters as there’s no other way to get it out of you, except for in a blog. But maybe a letter to a single individual is more immediate, no, that doesn’t make sense, emailing a letter with your problems to a stranger doesn’t make any sense at all...I don’t think altogether a good thing because its probably out of context for the person at the other end.

But I think what I mean here is that with a blog you feel nobody is reading it, and with letter, you know that what your writing out is going to be read at least once.

Filmmaking

Anybody who knows me....will know, that I don't storyboard any of my animations.

Film school will tell you that it is Treatment then Script then Storyboard then Animatic then Animation...then Post. I find that order to be next to impossible to sit in a chair and do, and for anyone who’s reading this and hasn’t made a film themselves, don’t be fooled into thinking that those teachings are concrete and that there’s no other way...there’s PLENTY of other ways, it's ONE way of doing it, that works for some and doesn’t work for others.

If your sat there at home and are trying to make a film this way and are really struggling to do it (in the film school order)...your NOT alone...and don't let them PROSELYTIZE you...

OTHER WAYS TO MAKE A FILM:

Some people write a little scene then stop and go out and film it / animate it...then stop...then write something which is completely not related to the first scene and move onto creating *that* immediately. More ideas may then come to you to fill in the gap. How did this character end up here?...What happened in-between these very far apart scenes?...you may find yourself thinking of things as you are creating...very much a percolating process.

Some people think purely in images and ideas....and have to get those images and ideas out their head straight away...when you are on a roll with it i think you have to act.

Some people find that by writing or even drawing a big old drawing of the end shot of the story first, you can then start to work backwards on how things ended up getting to that point. Writing the start of your story is not always the answer.

Some people write about what they’ve experienced in recent life, that can be just about anything and can be very effective. Even you can go the Werner Herzog route and set out walking six hundred miles then write about what you saw and make it into a film...or even take your camera with you on that journey.

The Three Answers

Now this is something I find interesting. In art your going to come up against a question at some point, somebody is going to ask you…“what do you think of this?”, wiether that be a painting, film trailer, short film, book, play etc...you can say “Yes, I love it” or you can say “No, I don’t like that” or you can answer “I don’t know, give me some time to think about that”...all of which are honest answers. But the third answer is quite often taken very badly by the person who asked the question, almost as if they feel its a negative answer...when its actually as honest a answer as the other two. Why is this?…

“I don’t know” isn’t a immediate answer...there’s uncertainty in it...uncertainty often leads to negative thought?...I wonder why that is?

People have to understand that there’s a constant change going on, likes and dislikes are changing over a long time period in peoples minds, some people change their mind by getting use to something that they didn’t INITIALLY like over time and vice versa. There’s such vast detail in some stuff, that your brain cant take it all in at once, so one viewing really isn’t enough, and we should learn to understand that. It's hard nowadays avoiding the hype engine, I keep falling victim to that one myself, and for all things…at the end of the day, I also keep assuming, when I shouldn’t, but we’re human, we make mistakes.

It’s been a quest of mine now for about four years to try and understand the human race a bit better as best I can in the circumstances that I’m in, I’ve met a lot of extreme people in my time...is there a automatic thing in all people that pushes them towards the negative?...or am I simply falling victim to assumption and am guilty of a sweeping statement...after all... I’ve not met very many people in my life.

To go further with this, the News on the television reports bad things about 95% of the time, people remain to still watch it, I'm not saying we should be apathetic, its good to take a interest in world affairs, but apparently in the past there was a news channel that reported 95% positive stories, and it was shut down due to low ratings.

What I reckon people take a certain security perhaps in the bad news thing...it’s the “there’s always somebody worse off than myself” thing.

FAN EDIT: Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull

This has to be posted really, I was really very impressed by it, and it shows you just how two edits can be so drastically different...the power of editing huh.


edited by triklops


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TRAILER: Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull

Woah...where the heck does one start here on this!?!?!?!

It’s really really really really not looking like Douglas Slocombe did the cinematography...and I mean he DIDN’T so I mean it WONT?...is it meant to???...well, they said that they would try...but I mean lets face it, trying to emulate Douglas Slocombe is going to be very tricky?...yes?...no?...your going to have agendas and so on...OR…if Janusz Kaminski and Speilebrg try to EMULATE Douglas Slocombe what we’ll GET is something thats not Janusz Kaminski or Douglas Slocombe...but a new look....OR Janusz Kaminski has been influenced by Andrew Lesnie OR Speilebrg has been influenced by Peter Jackson….OR George Lucas has been influenced by Jackon and Andrew Lesnie...what is going on??

TRAILER IS OUT OF CONTEXT?

This doesn’t feel like a Spielberg movie...right, so, I'm sure it will when it gets here?...when we see it in context it will...because it IS going to have long takes. I know Spielberg and I know that he always has long takes, when we see the final its going to feel very different from this trailer.

Moving onto something else...Is it a experimental film?...it could be?...we don’t know. It feels like it is a bit. Reason I say that is because of the direction of some of the shots...its got strong, would say, stronger emphasis on comic book than normal seen there in that warehouse stuff.

It also looks like its graded. Some of it is very contrasty for a Indiana Jones film.

I love the look of some of the shots very much, that very brief explosion shot in the jungle sure doesn’t look like CG which is GREAT...LOVE THAT. Loving the look of that....loving the bullets hitting the crates shot….and the waterfall looks amazing. I don’t like the swing with the whip on the lamp shade and crash into the front of the truck with the pause and him speaking to himself for a number of reasons, I don’t know if its CG or not but it FEELS like CG, it feels like the second he jumps from the crates they have merged it with a CG stuntman, to me it feels incredibly fake...and to me personally, my personal opinion on this is unfortunately that I didn’t really want to see that kind of merging. The is however a LOT of miniature work in this trailer too. And its looking absolutely GREAT, all that pyramid stuff and the staircase with the steps that are sliding into the walls looks incredible.

But I do love the hat sitting on the ground and it being put on...though it all feels like a completely new style?...which we have to accept and get use to. This is Janusz Kaminski and Steven Speilberg doing their thing...quite possibly doing a experimental thing...and we have to respect that.

CONCLUSION:

This is OUT of context...this is short rapid fire edited shots that are out of context. I will say this though, it feels very modern. It also feels like its been influenced by King Kong, I know that George Lucas loved King Kong so that is entirely possible. It feels like they just decided to do their own thing here, that’s very stand alone from the first three, go with they’re own cinematography style, and use a massive budget. We have to respect this and accept this.

I’m actually very very excited for the film, particularly about that jungle bit with the jeeps and that explosion. I can't wait to see how the full sequence plays out.

WATERFALLS:

The waterfall shot is truly beautiful and I do believe is 100% real. If they have added anything to that to make it a slightly more fictional place...like painted in something...they have done a truly amazing job.

STAIRCASE:

I love it, absolutely love it, I’m very excited about there being water at the bottom too, I don’t know what it is but I love scenes with water. I was truly over the moon when I saw that behind the scenes shot of them wading around in water.

PETROL EXPLOSION IN THE JUNGLE NEXT TO TANK THING:

ABSOLUTELY GORGEOUS...and to me feels 100% real. The colour on that shot is superb, the greens of the jungle and the reds of the fire ball / smoke. It really feels like 1) we are in a real jungle. 2) It’s a real petrol explosion...reminiscent of past that we know and love from say Raiders.

THOUGHTS IN THE MIND GATHERED OVER THE DAYS BROUGHT TO PAPER ON FEBRUARY 17TH:

February 14th trailer was such a array of different shots, I was just totally stunned in my chair with all the styles that I saw in it...I mean at times it feels like its Sam Raimi / Bill Pope (whip swing on light) and at other times it feels like its Peter Jackson / Andrew Lesnie (opening shot and jeeps near cliff shot) then suddenly it feels like its definitely Spielberg / Janusz Kaminski (petrol explosion in jungle)...(which I will add looks very real and extremely nice). It actually reminded me of The Phantom Menace fire ball scene, you know the one?...where the ships go into the fire?...most of the space scenes in The Phantom Menace looked incredible because it was miniatures and real fire. So in essence I was subconsciously there with George Lucas / David Tattersall...BUT the way that the camera is raised as the fire ball goes up I have to say is very very Janusz Kaminski Saving Private Ryan.

Only way I can see / come up with and explain / theorise / speculate is that George Lucas has directed some of it...I know for sure that he was very taken by King Kong when he saw it, at its New York premiere...and I know that sometimes they do direct sequences in each other movies.

Also a shock to me was that it looks like its been digitally graded. Something I did not expect at all.

INDY SWINGING ON THE LIGHT SHADE BIT:

What has to be stated here is that all art is subjective. Some people really don’t mind computer generated effects...they love it, and some really are very much against...add into this, that some people don’t even see what’s computer generated and what isn’t...but some people do, and it bothers them. I personally would never do a CG merging of real live action crossing over into CG stuntman (that was very much a individual big stunt)...ie CG Harrison Ford himself, and put it slap bang in the centre stage / centre of the shot...which LOOKS like what has happened on this whip swing on light shot...that shot FEELS like its been done like that. It may NOT be CG, but to me personally, my personal opinion on this is...that...it IS cg..(may be wrong) (just my speculation)

Now that will bother some, and not bother others...its controversial, of course its controversial. Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (at this stage in the speculation) is looking very stand alone...completely new look going on here.

The reasons that the people are against CG are that it takes out that random element, that random human element, it becomes far too smooth, precise, the computer just renders out the animation perfectly along the key frames and to some people, we instantly almost subconsciously spot it straight away. What your looking at is so smooth and I would add even that it almost takes out the suspense too, it takes out the danger of the stunt. Again this is very controversial. None of us want stunt men to end up dead, we all want things to be safe, but you cant deny the fact that when we see the real thing, its all the more impressive...you go “holy crap, that guy really DID jump from that horse to that truck” and it was DANGEROUS. Something to be in awe about...a spectacle.

I’m not saying that we cant be in awe about CG, we can, we occasionally get something that is very impressive like say Gollum for example or Davy Jones.

KEEPING CG SUBTLE:

It’s controversial again...what constitutes as subtle will vary from person to person. I myself have NO PROBLEMS with CG being used the way it has been in quite a few films now, where we see a explosion of fire hitting men, engulfing them in fire. I’ve seen a lot of shots like that, that have worked extremely well over the last fifteen years...maybe because they are usually silhouettes because the light is behind them and also perhaps, because it all happens so fast in a explosion.

Sometimes real things look like cg or a miniature, and sometimes cg things look real or a miniature...it varies greatly. The mordern TV Battle Star Galitica series, the CG in that, for the space ships, is simply AMAZING.

FURTHER ANALYSIS ON THE SHOT:

You know, this is a strange one...I’m beginning to feel that it is indeed real...OR, extremely good CG...it is of course (if it is indeed CG) the very latest CG from Industrial Light and Magic (they have after all created the AMAZING Davy Jones and so things are getting quite interesting) ... but sadly I cant view it on this computer at high res at a decent frame rate. It's very odd how the whip disappears into the computer generated lamp shade also.

Hugh Fleming's Painting

Wow, things are getting very busy on the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull publicity campaign, I think today has been the biggest in terms of photographs of the film and this wonderful wondrful cover has come out too, I have to say I really like this one...beautifully done!...its the best one to date out of the four that have been done and i love the blues and reds in this.

I have to say also, that I love the traditional things that a film like this is bringing to us all...traditional paintings...miniatures and matte painting for the film itself. Just great. Exciting time for the obsessive cinema geek...lol

Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull

It's getting nearer...and the trailer will be here soon too. I've now seen about fifteen photos from the set and the three posters, I have to say that I'm still worried about this movie...we're just not going to know though, untill we see it.

OMG Stanley, they’re ruining your films...(Warner better release open matte versions or this is BAD)

I really hope this isn’t true...but I’ve read that new HD DVD of The Shining is going to be released in 16:9 widescreen and not the open matte 4:3...This is a complete outrage, and for people like me who are use to viewing it in 4:3 to trim the top and bottom off upsets me...wiether Kubrick himself wanted it this way or not nobody seems to know. The shots are so stunningly beautiful in full frame though, and now these people dont have Mr Kubrick to say what he wants done, it looks like it might get cropped.

Stanley Kubrick's reoccuring 1.33:1 decision, without a doubt has had a major influence on me, I think about it all the time now as I’m setting up my shots. I even stopped doing my animations in 2.35:1 and started to do them all in 1.25:1, and i was really adamant about 2.35:1 there too for a long time.

Lets hope that they launch both versions of his movies that have been done this way...for me its a crime not to.

Below you can see (by clicking on it)(urge you to click on it) the beautiful use of the ratio with equally beautiful natural daylight….at least I presume its naturally daylight, it may not be?...

More hurt

Hurt hurt hurt...one of these situations where theres just endless amounts of hurt...do nothing in a attempt to be peaceful and it is misunderstood as a attack...it is NOT a attack...why is it wrong to take a bit of time away...to think. I spose mind you maybe communication should perhaps not go down fully the way it has...it should be stated that you want time on your own to think...maybe?...maybe that is it. And I shouldn’t say what I want to say at the moment, its not the right time to say it...I believe in not speaking when people are going through important times in their life...happy times in their life...what right do I have to come in and make them unhappy with what I would write (which would happen I think) there is however nothing spiteful in what I have to say...there was however (I feel) something spiteful in what I witnessed the other day. I am not going to move though, however hurt, angry and upset I am I refuse to do it. I’m a considerate person and refuse refuse to talk at this time...I mean I see history and the importance of things as they happen.

Projects

Projects that are in swing at the moment are Servus (thats going on right now) Errans Alba is on hold because of the sheer amount of stress it causes, this is not however a) what I wanted or b) a good thing

I hate unfinished projects...but I cant seem to look at this with a view to it working at the moment, because my dad is so busy. when hes LESS busy (which is very hard to see happening) I will see if we can complete it.

Erráns Alba: part 1 extended can be viewed here below

Finally reached the date for my film to be shown locally for a one off screening alongside five other short films. This has been the most stressful thing I've done to date, I did not reach my goal of completing the fifteen minute film, and I've been told that I had a bit of breakdown towards the end of the deadline. i myself dont know what it was and i still get it a bit to this day, its a fatigue problem where you get very fatigued suddenly if front of the computer, battle fatigue my mum says.

I had to stop altogether and then after quite a bit of rest I went into a slow workflow and it really did crawl along as I directed my father with putting sound effects onto the last sequences.

This is what's going to be shown in the theatre is nine minutes long (and is what I am posting here) but there is further five minutes of completed animation with no sound been done that can not be shown, it is the most frustrating thing, but I will have to be happy that something is being shown instead of nothing being shown.

It is true I think that i was inspired by King Kong a bit with the whole great wall aspect, however I do however have a fascination with archaeological ruins as well, I find them very inspiring.

Pixar

It just blows me away how good Pixar really are, I downloaded the new Ratatouille nine minute preview and it really doesn’t disappoint. Why are they so good?...because they have cottoned onto the fact that if you make cg stylised then its got something to it...but I mean, they also know how to light a scene, its got some of the most beautiful lighting you will ever see in a raytraced (computer generated) film.

So does Monsters.inc and Finding Nemo though too. Its this continued - oustanding, fived star quality that impresses me.

Proving once again that Pixar really are the best in the world at this.

The dream coming true

Cinema screening of the nine minutes was three days ago now...

..it was a emotional one for me as I've driven the last four years of my life towards this.

The screen was a lot bigger than I thought it would be...and wonderful thing was, the public seemed to be there, that’s really what I wanted. It was also nice to be put next to 5 other films.

It was nice to see it on the big screen and with a decent sound setup...and those 6 days of torture spent on getting the sound nice and clear (though is still appalling on this online one) certainly paid off, god the sound was hideous before it got fixed. It's yet to be fixed for the internet (internet version pretty appalling) one of the things I need to fix.

It was now that I come to think of it, another bullet point in the whole story of me getting closer to what I want. It was my first professional screening and was a emotional one for me as my entire life has be driven towards this. The cinema was bigger than i thought it would be, but still not gigantic, 67 seats i think they said...but it was very nice to be there siting next to the 5 other short films.

Shadow of the Colossus

Taking a brake away from my own film, with a extension on the deadline now meant I could play a game I had wanted to play in a long long time. I ordered the game back at the very end of December 2006 with a view to playing it over the new year, but unfortunately it took about 10 weeks to get here, but this was ok...the timing on its arrival ended up being a very good time for me to sit down and play it.

Director and lead designer Fumito Ueda and his team have once again amazed me.

Travelling around the large beautiful landscapes on the horse called Agro is just wonderful, they nailed the horse animation and controls...incredible, its amazing how the horse moves, and its refreshing that there is no music during the parts were your exploring and trying to get to the next colossus. The sound of wind and horses hooves hitting different ground, and the rains of the horse jingling and so on is all spot on. And when you do arrive at your destination, beautiful music starts up, and tension is created. This is like the equivalent of perfect pacing in a film.

Every entrance to every colossus has a beautiful stair followed by beautiful ruins and is done in a different way to keep it interesting...and every large space, be it cave or open space where you do battle with a colossi is unique too...not to mention the puzzles which are different each time to destroying them. That had to be one of the best things...it was so fresh each time.

When a completed the game I was further impressed by the ending which had both happy and sad closing story animation. And it is wonderful that Fumito Ueda has indeed created two masterpieces here now, Ico and now Shadow of the Colossus.

Livevideo Lite

Just a test here to see if this works...[edit]which it seems to, im not sure if i like that featured videos button on this though.[edit/]

Get your LiveVideo Lite now!

Why blow the trumpet?

Blowing your own Trumpet

Meaning
Act in a boastful, self-promoting manner.

I’m not sure that I’m being boastful, what the intention is or was here...is that some people I know tend to be a bit um well, they say things like “film is a nice hobby Michael, but you wont make money out of it.”….now that gets me a little bit pissed off, and is the reason why I post the quotes from articles written about me. I like to believe that someday I will be making films that might bring in some money. I’m not going to be beaten anyway.

I’m definitely acting in a self-promoting manner though, but you HAVE to. My massive self promotion campaign across online video places and forums brought these two good things to me. It seems the more you go out of the way on the promotion stuff, the more good things come your way.

Blowing the own trumpet again

This was again...totally out of the blue for me, not quite the same as the last story, the last story was that I...well I go on these publicity campaigns on big forums...they delete your post sometimes because its braking their rules, but they asked me if I gave them something they would write a small article and put it into their news. Anyway, that was last time...THIS time its totally 100% out of the blue, and is in a print magazine, which is always a nice thing to happen. Many thanks to whoever sent them the link to my video, because I did not.

"Independent filmmaker Michael Dowswell shot this film in south-west Scotland, when his town was completely covered in snow. Though not much happens, the majestic imagery and thought-provoking imagery more than makes up for a lack of real story."
--Digital Video magazine



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The frustration in my mind I have with CG

I said to a good friend of mine a while back...that “this was it, that’s me finished with animation...no more, I quit”...lol. And I was at the time and still am today, sometimes quite passionate about that. Forever is a long time though.

The pull factor of CG is the fact that it doesn’t cost any money, you can do anything you want with the camera. This has always sucked me in.

BUT…I HAD, to go back to Erráns Alba though, because I had done SO much hard work in 2005 on it. Its not good to leave something like that unfinished, and for all its faults, its got some nice things that I’m happy with going on in it. But one thing that haunts me is how I’m constantly compromising the story for my film. Its upsetting because the STORY is the MOST important thing, and it’s the story that’s constantly being altered because of various technical difficulties...you should never ever be concentrating 100% of your effort on cinematography (guilty of doing it a lot).

Bus Uncle

This film on youtube is the proof that something with bad quality image and bad quality sound can still be classically entertaining and funny...I mean seven minutes is a long time to keep a audiences attention...and it really DOES keep your attention. Its amazing this, shot on a mobile phone, and all in subtitles...it’s a strikingly good example of how content or story shines through bad sound and picture quality.

The John Butler Trio

Amazing, simply amazing...his music which I listened to way back in 2006, I came back to the other day, it’s a odd thing sometimes I don’t listen to music for quite a while, then have a music orgy, and just staggering how good he really is…

Lively, diverse and uplifting music. He goes straight into my favourites. Superb bass and voice...cant recomend these four songs highly enough.

http://www.purevolume.com/thejohnbutlertrio

Erráns Alba: part 2

part 2 is now online...

To view part 2 of Erráns Alba, or part 1 for that matter, click here. Its been quite some battle, very draining, and I seem to jump in and out of hating the final thing to loving bits of it. Sometimes I hate all of it. then i realise that the wall shot is prtty good. Still though, cg LOOKS like cg...and this whole thing looks a bit like in game computer graphics...but I spose I shouldn't be too harsh on myself.

Blowing ones own trumpet

Don’t know to post in here or not about this...BUT, it is a record of what I've done and whats going through my mind at the time of posting, though don’t like to blow the own trumpet...but does make you feel that all the hard work and perseverance and starting to pay off when they write a article on your efforts.

"In a world of increasingly larger budget fiction and fantasy it isn't easy to get people to stand up and pay attention, but with inexhaustible patience and effort some individuals and groups create something unique with only their sweat and determination. Errans Alba is just such a work"
--sffworld.com


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Asking friends for advice

Why do I ask my friends opinion on important matters in life?...because I need to gather the minds of who I know to be wise and look at the problem from many different angles, I do not see this is a bad thing. I believe that EVERYBODY has something to bring to the table, fair enough, some people are lacking in first hand experience but I find it striking and continually amazing what people have to say, all people on this earth seem have this thing where they are extremely wise one minute then extremely stupid the next, its incredible. I believe everybody is a specialist at some topic, because everybody is living a different role in life.

We’re all continually developing, we’ll be developing when we’re 80 years old, and we’ll all have a different knowledge too. But it’ll be the people who take risks in life that’ll be the ones to get good advice from and have a interesting story to tell...though i still say everybody has somthing to say.

Major change of plan

Some major changes going on over here on the film I’m directing, the score which I myself was doing has been ditched, though the music on the teasers is still mine, the music for the final animation will be all composed by my father Harold J Dowswell. There was an awful lot of pressure for this to be done all by me for March, health was failing (still feel shattered) and what he has done is very good so it makes the animation better, which ultimately is what its all about. Lets just hope the two of us dont kill each other in the process...lol.

Discovering what a press kit is, and some perseverance that paid off

Only just found out the other day what a press kit is. Amazed at how much you learn about something when you really throw yourself at it, it’s a very interesting process and is really rewarding to move from not knowing about something to knowing about something.

The story of perseverance also very interesting for me at this moment in time over here. I’d been getting a lot of deletion posts at science fiction forums, posting promotion/awareness posts about my animation...so I changed my plan to mention the truth, that I’m really not making much money out of it...yet. I mean $12 in a month really is not good, I really don’t know if I ever will make sufficient money out of this either. I hope I do. Anyway, changing the post to mention the struggle I’m having resulted in me being contacted by somebody saying that he/her would like to do a article on their site about my film. So that was fantastic news, and proof that perseverance works.