Base14

My final project for my graduate directing class, entitled Brian Paulson: Tree Dropper, has finally been released online. This project was created entirely during Spring semester, which includes all pre-production, filming and post-production. Okay, most post-production. The reality of the situation is that it took me all summer to get around to cleaning up the audio and making a final cut. With summer classes and all the traveling I was doing for Duck ♥ Teslacoil, I almost forgot about it. But as of last week, the final cut is done.

More discussion after the break.

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As an artist, I experience every now and then a blissful moment when my craft sees eye to eye with tasks in my daily life. One of my favorite instances is when I find myself suddenly faced with an event or holiday. I whip out the paper and my X-Acto and go to town exploring new card styles. Only in the past few months did I think to start photographing them before shipping them off across the country. As you can see, I’ve spent some time exploring cutouts. (Having already spent years making illustrated cards.)

Recently, I am moving into the 3D realm. After the work I did on Overlooked, I want to make my pieces more interactive with the viewer. The idea is that if the viewer must make a contribution to the piece then he/she will be more personally connected to it. This latest piece (my first attempt at a card of this format) is strong in concept but needs a lot more work to make it functionally strong and visually attractive. But what’s more fun than having room for improvement?

Next for Base14 cards? Well, they might not be made of paper at all.

I just finished the official electronic press kit for Duck ♥ Teslacoil and have posted it here for everyone’s enjoyment. In the olden days before the internet, filmmakers would print these out and mail them to film festivals. Nowadays we have withoutabox to do most of the work for us (thank goodness), but some contests still like to have one. No matter, it was fun to design! Now I’m working on the full-sized movie poster and DVD design!

In the last two weeks, Duck ♥ Teslacoil has been accepted to another two film festivals: the 2009 Savannah Film Festival and the 2009 California International Animation Festival. While the latter may sound impressive, the Savannah Film Festival is by far the biggest festival we’ve been accepted to. We’re talking eight days of nonstop filmmaking mojo. And of course, it’s extra special to me since it’s right in my backyard. No doubt I’ll be there – all week long. Both are coming up soon: CalAniFest will be held September 27th in Riverbank, CA and the Savannah Film Festival takes place October 31st through November 7th, right here in Savannah, GA. Exact show times will be added to the site as they are announced!

Yesterday marked the three-year anniversary of the debut of the comic strip Rightfield, the most ambitious comic franchise that Base14 has ever undertaken. Featuring the comedic exploits of Sam the Human, Phil the Platypus and Glitch the Robot, Rightfield was designed to follow well-developed characters through a major story arc, giving readers more than just a daily chuckle. On August 21st, 2006, the following three-panel cartoon was published in nearly 20,000 copies of the Purdue Exponent Newspaper.

This was at best a crude beginning, and as a comic artist, I was still feeling my way into the art form. But working to publish five hand-drawn strips a week meant that I would rack up experience quickly, and the quality of the strip steadily improved. By the end of the Fall Semester, the strip was consistently demonstrating solid craftsmanship and concepts.

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Time for an super-exclusive, all-inclusive recap of the West Coast premiere of Duck Heart Teslacoil! We had the honor to show at the 2nd Annual Feel Good Film Festival in Hollywood, CA. This show was extra special because of all the plush treatment provided to us filmmakers. Opening night on Friday was spectacular! Celebrities present included Patrick Warburton, Andy Dick, Elaine Hendrix and Carlos Mencia.
I also got my own all-access pass and walked the yellow carpet, pausing for photo ops and interviews with the press. Then, after the screening of DHT Saturday night, I did a Q&A session with the evening’s other directors in front of the entire theater audience. It was loads of fun. We had our share of scares though; the DVD the projectionist had wasn’t working, and I had to run back to my friend’s house to burn a new copy! Lesson learned. Always bring backups, kids.

Just in time for all you back to school hipsters, we present the Base14 tee! I did two prints to please the main Base14 customer base. One is a dark gray shade on black and the other is the classic white and orange logo on dark gray and green. As always with Base14 apparel, screen printing was done by hand. This was an exclusive first printing, but if you’ve all been very good this year, there’s a good likelihood that we will have some for sale. Please comment if you have any other color preferences.