The Hadestown Project

I can't believe how sleepy I am.

I haven't felt like this in a while - like I've been up studying for a test and now it's afternoon and I still haven't had any sleep for some reason. I guess once you start work and settle into a routine, those sleepless nights become a thing of the past. The thing with me right now is that Stefan is gone and I find myself feeling afraid to sleep alone in the apartment. It doesn't make any sense because I spent a year living completely by myself in my own place in Philadelphia without having these fears, but I guess I'm spoiled now. I'm used to having someone to fall asleep next to and when I don't, I feel unsafe. I stared at the bedroom door for 15 minutes yesterday, waiting for it to fling open because I could swear I was hearing something coming from the kitchen. My biggest fear has been the power going out (as it so often does) and me having to go out in the snow in my skimpy pajamas so as to avoid a panic attack. God, I'm pathetic.

It's annoying because during the daytime, I actually enjoy being by myself. I've always been the kind of person who is completely fine with spending time alone, even though I am an extrovert. There's just so much to do with that time, I never think it's quite enough. It's why I often feel annoyed when someone on Facebook complains that they're bored: You obviously have WiFi, so go learn a coding language or read about the Titanic, or talk to someone on Chatroulette. Today I will be writing a fan letter to one of my favorite YouTube people. Hopefully I'll get a nice response that I can frame and put on my bedside table. So I've got that to distract me from the fact that the old couple next door is shouting things that you only say right before you grab the shotgun from above that fireplace and end your misery.

I can't believe I have another night of this.

This past week felt loooong. Not because I didn't have fun - I went home and spent time with my family, my brother was back from Austria and it felt nice and warm to have everyone together in one place. But each visit home reverts me back to my old teenage self and I inevitably become lazy and refuse to socialize or go out for any reason whatsoever. Yes, I was quite the social butterfly when I was 16.

So I decided to utilize my time - if I was going to be glued to my laptop, I might as well do something useful. So I made this little piece:

It's a montage of a little jazz thing Stefan and I went to a couple weeks ago. Peter Georgiev does some amazing things on that guitar and deserves every bit of reognition he gets - people don't tend to think about how difficult it is for musicians in this country and to have someone with that much potential and talent grace our scene with this genre of music is truly a rare thing.

I did something quite similar to this several months ago - same kind of music, same musicians, same venue. It's difficult to keep things different when the elements haven't changed that much. So I decided to good around with After Effects with this one and had my mind set on those intro freeze frames that are in so many Guy Richie movies. Lucklily, for a complete After Effects newbie like me, there is ECAbrams' YouTube channel to show me every step I need to take.

It's funny how you see something and you say "'that sure looks cool" and you don't really think about how much work goes into it. It took me 3 hours to get those 5-10 seconds just right, mainly because I had to start from scratch 4 different times. The first try took me an hour, but the last I did in 15 minutes. I guess repetition is key here.

So this is me dipping my toe in After Effects, testing the waters and finding that they're deep, but quite inviting. Let's just see how things turn out as I go deeper.

I'm find myself a little overwhelmed. There is much to do; so much, in fact, that it's difficult to see where I should start. Should I take some drawing lessons? Maybe learn a thing or two about composition? Backgrounds? When you don't know much about visual art, it's likely that you'll find yourself feeling lost.

I started watching the tutorials of a brilliant artist called Daniel Gies, who explains the creative process of his animation studio, e.d. Films. It's faschinating stuff to me, and I whenever I watch his videos, I feel like I'm seeing some kinf of stunt performance where I turn to Stefan and I exclaim: "Oh, man, did you see that? Did you see what he did there?". Anyways, he emphasized on the importance of storyboarding before you begin your animation - something I hadn't even considered before he mentioned it. Gies recommended a book called "Directing the Story" by Francis Glebas. I just started it yesterday and it truly is very informative - you never think about how much work goes into the entire process of animation and this gives me a lot of insight into what I have to do in order to present my story effectively. I'm still in the beginning and I'm already getting all sorts of new ideas that I hadn't considered before, which is excellent.

I decided to start learning about storyboarding because 1. the book is really interesting and I just kinda wanna read it anyway, 2. because I can't draw. I really can't draw, you guys. And it goes beyond being able to make a horse look like a horse (which I regularly and hilariously fail at), I lack the skills required to make an image compelling and interesting - that's why I probably should get a book on composition and read that, too. I also believe storyboarding will help me not feel like there's an enourmous amount of work that has to be done - there will be, don't get me wrong, but a visual script of my movie will give me a sense of direction that will keep me motivated.

So this is where I start from. And since the book mentions preparation as a vital step towards creating a successful storyboard, this is what I will put my energy in in the next time.

My biggest problem with blogs is usually the fact that I forget I have them or I run out of things to say. Or I just become disinterested in the topic. My solution is simple - center this blog around my biggest dream and have it follow my path to acomplishing it.