Base14

And we are BACK! Sorry for the content hiatus, but Here at Base14 we’ve been working nonstop on our next large scale project, “Ara.” This 7 minute animated spectacle features content generated from over 5 separate graphics packages by over 15 talented graphic artists. It also boasts a completely original story, voice acting and musical score. The movie was finally completed on Thursday, and I hurried up and cut together a trailer Friday. The long wait has been worth it, though, because today I’m pleased to share with you our unofficial trailer for “Ara.”

The movie will premiere on April 17th, 2008. It will be shown in Fowler Hall at 2pm and the Wabash Landing 9 Theateres later that evening.

Enjoy the trailer and keep watching Base14 for additional information and upcoming new projects!

Well, our animated film “Ara” continues to develop at a healthy pace. This week the team put our heads together and refined the artistic illustration style for the film. Our ideas were influenced by modern television cartoon series, most notably the “Star Wars: Clone Wars” television series. What we ended up with is a hybrid of those styles and a bit of my own natural cartooning style. You can see the result, and the final design for the main protagonist Ara, on the right.

Spending time developing the style was important because I didn’t want this film to look too much like what I’ve done before, nor did I want it to look too much like anything else in pop culture. A unique artistic style will help the film stand out and be memorable. Also, as some of the animation will be divided among other animators, it’s critical we have a set standard.

Well, back to final character design and animatic production. More updates to come!

I’m thrilled to announce that Base14’s next big film, “Ara,” has officially entered the production stage of development! After months of story and script development, the crew wrapped up the first round of voice acting this afternoon using a custom built sound booth in my very own apartment.

Chief audio technician Rick DeSutter helped me construct a make-shift booth in what used to be my pantry. We ran cables from a filtered mic to a soundboard, then through an external sound card hooked up to my computer. From there signal was captured via Adobe Soundbooth and saved in anticipation of the film animatic. By far this was the most advanced audio production setup the company has ever devised. It was extremely rewarding to see a bit of extra effort go a long way to improving sound quality.

Rick and our actors Kim, Shauvon and Andrew were all a pleasure to work with, and we’re all planning on bring the performers back together in January to do a second run. By then all the wrinkles in the timing, tone and mood will be ironed out and all voices finalized. And maybe I’ll remember to take some pictures while the others are still around.

With the worldwide release of the Beowulf movie this weekend, I thought it was a perfect chance to resurrect the first “Base14 Classic.” Presenting “Beowulf Reloaded,” our company’s first big hit!

Produced all the way back in 2003, “Beowulf Reloaded” began as a English class project and wound up taking over a month to film and edit. The movie was met with great enthusiasm and was a huge catalyst to additional movie projects in the coming year. It is a bit primitive compared to the work we’re doing now, but it’s an important testament to our filmmaking roots. It’s also worth noting that “Beowulf Reloaded” still holds the record for longest running-time of any Base14 production at 18:24! Yowzar!

And now for the first time ever, “Beowulf Reloaded” is viewable online. So if you’ve got 18 minutes to burn, head on over to Base14tv, scroll down to the bottom of the library, and have a look at the classic movie “Beowulf Reloaded.” It’s an enduring statement to what can happen when you’re stuck in high school with way too much free time on your hands.

Finally, the long wait is over! Announcing the beta release of Base14tv, a custom-designed video browser built right into the Base14 website! Base14tv is designed to make viewing our past work here at Base14 easy and enjoyable. We harness the powerful Flash video format, organize it with XML and deliver it with a slick Flash interface complete with scrubbablity, library browsing and fullscreen mode! Check it out now!
Base14tv beta currently features six of our most popular videos:

• Biological Warfare Ain’t Easy: The Theatrical Trailer
• Biological Warfare Ain’t Easy: A Rightfield Movie (Extended Edition Director’s Cut)
• EMV Introduction Video 2007
• Tide & Punishment
• A Cold Day Production
• Teen J-Squad

And that won’t be all! As time goes on, we’ll periodically dip into our video archives and add other classic works to Base14tv! It’ll only get more interesting from here!

Now we do admit it’s still in beta, so you’ll notice some quirks. Please feel free to report any issues you find as comments to this post. The more feedback we get, the better we can make Base14tv!

It is my proud duty to officially announce the next large-scale project coming from Base14. For the last two months, we have been in the development phase of our next animated short film entitled “Ara.” As of yesterday, the film was approved for sponsorship in the Digital Cinema Contest here at Purdue and is now transitioning into full preproduction.

Our pitch line is “A young monk must save her people from annihilation using an ancient religion in which only she believes.” It’s a mixture of fantasy, action, martial arts and sci-fi. Pictured on the right is a concept design for the main protagonist, Ara.

This project is going to be a long time in the making, but well worth the commitment. Watch out for many more updates in the coming months!

Wowzer! Today begins the 2007 Homecoming King and Queen Contest here at Purdue University. I was asked by the members of the Homecoming Committee to help them put together a little video for our local television network BoilerTV. Cool!

The video features factoids on all fourteen candidates. It’s a take on the “Brady Bunch” theme, was written by Joe Zerbo and was sung by Levi Riggs. It was a honor working with all the homecoming candidates and directors, not to mention lots of fun! Congratulations to all of them on getting this far and best of luck in the election! Boiler Up!