SLUG ON A RUG Production Blog

After screening FSU at our final screening at the Capitol Theatre, we received a response that completely exceeded our expectations! Generally, the feeling that ours was very professional looking, quick paced, well written, funny, and visually strong! We got huge laughs, and walked away with a lot of positive feedback. It was very satisfying.

Since then, we’ve made a point of showing the episode to friends and family with no background in film or animation whatsoever, in the hopes that even the “layman” will respond well to it. To our surprise, even those without any knowledge of experimental film or art school LOVED IT! These people have requested copies to show to their friends, so we’ve been making DVDs and circulating them quite a bit as of late. It is going over better than we imagined.

We went ahead and licensed FSU with the Writers Guild of America to protect our asses, and completed our pitch bibles, in the form of school pamphlets. We are very happy with the end result – a lot of these bibles, we understand, are many pages in length, whereas we were able to include all the essentials onto one page, front and back! We have since submitted these pamphlets, along with widescreen copies of the DVD, to Adult Swim, and a number of our personal comedic heroes. We are thrilled at the outcome of the final product, and are very much looking forward to hearing back from these people one way or the other.

Fingers crossed, kiddies!

Welp, we showed the fine cut of FSU to the class on Fri. and got a lot of laughs, which was a relief. You know how it is when you’re working with something for so long and become so wrapped up in the details that you can’t step back and see it objectively? The whole forest for the trees thing? Yeah, Sorrelle, Sean and Chandra have been at that stage for the last five weeks at least. At some point the jokes evolve from funny to these highly technical beats, wherein the camera and character expression become tools for the punchline. Comedy is HARD. But the laughs were very encouraging, and reminded us that we were onto something when we started this thing clear back in Winter. Yes, Virginia, it IS a funny show!

We are meeting tonight to tackle the few notes we received from our peers. Time permitting, we may get around to those pamphlets we’ll be doing for the pitch, too. We also keep hearing horror stories about copyrights and Spongebob and how ideas get stolen all the time, so we’re currently looking into legally securing this concept as ours and making sure we’re not taken advantage of. We’d hate for anyone to steal the idea and not take the show, and as there is a likelihood we’ll be peddling this to more networks than just A.S., it’s best to be safe and smart about it. ALSO, we got the M.A.S. Trailer to TCTV, so it should be airing a bunch between now and the screening. Now all there is left to do is evaluations, episode finalizing, screening programming, and some major celebrating.

Where’s the wrap party at, guys?

Home stretch, here we come!

Sorrelle, Sean, and Chandra met last night to do a last once-over of the episode, and made a few teeny tiny itty bitty eensy weensy little adjustments. We also assembled the credits sequence and hope we didn’t leave anyone out, and while the credits are on the lengthy side, it’s completely upstaged by the cropped Sc. 7 playing in the screen simultaneously. It’s funny, too — after compiling these credits, it became clear just how many hats we all wore for this production. It’s rather validating to see it all in print, on screen!

The next few days we’ll just be rendering the final version. The only thing not completely final about it is the intro sequence, which is just a quick little thrown together whatever. We hope to get some suggestions about how to revamp it for the screening, which next week should allow time for. It’s completely usable, it just doesn’t have the pizazz we were all hoping for, and truthfully, we’re just tapped out of ideas at the moment. We are very very very much looking forward to getting feedback on the piece in its entirety, too. It is a far cry from the vocal tracks we previewed last time to the class, and has really come a long way visually. Without bragging, we are immensely proud of what we’ll be showing this Fri., and hope everyone will have as much fun watching it as we did making it. Another successful collaboration for the three is almost to a close! Woo!

Monday evening’s meeting was productive and fun as usual, with Chandra, Sean, Sorrelle, and Hammer in attendance. After showing the rough cut to Hammer and getting his feedback on a few of the questionable spots, we went through one last time and Chandra compiled a scene-by-scene list of all revisions we needed to make for the final cut, incorporating notes from Sally, Eli, McKayla, Alex, Freddy, and Jan Krawitz. She then divvied up the notes between her and Sean, and published them for you to see here:

http://academic.evergreen.edu/curricular/mediaartiststudio/studentwork/chandrafarnsworth/img1.png

http://academic.evergreen.edu/curricular/mediaartiststudio/studentwork/chandrafarnsworth/img2.png

http://academic.evergreen.edu/curricular/mediaartiststudio/studentwork/chandrafarnsworth/img3.png

http://academic.evergreen.edu/curricular/mediaartiststudio/studentwork/chandrafarnsworth/img4.png

(The bold indicates Sean’s notes, the italicized is Chandra’s stuff, and the bold / italicized is what they will be mutually attacking)

There were certainly some areas in the rough cut that demanded a little more discussion, too. For one, the moment when Zee launches into her rant about Jacob’s female lead in his new project originally played really long. To remedy that, we sped that portion up in Final Cut, which got some laughs from most everyone who saw it — we decided to keep it this way, since the monologue is still audible thru the sped up-edness. To follow Ruth Hayes’ “once is a mistake, twice is a motif” theory, we will do something similar with the reflexive VCR sped up / slow down effect at another point in the episode.

We also decided that in the interest of keeping things over the top, we would side with a fiery explosion for the projector mishap involving Marla. We consulted a lot of people at length about this, but came to this decision based on the feeling that it would provide a much needed contrast and cartoony boost to all of the dry, motionless talking throughout. Whenever we have the chance to lean towards the silly, we want to exploit it to the fullest.

Another source of confusion at this point is the introduction to the episode. It is widely agreed upon that the current start, kicking off with Dottie’s cat movie, is too disorienting, so we are kicking around some ideas as to how we can segue from an intro into Sc. 1a. We grabbed a V.O. from Eli while he was visiting, where he says, “Dottie, show us your film”. We also thought we might incorporate an exterior shot of the school, with a plaque that reads “Film School University, Created By…”, etc. , and thought about including a clapboard transition of some kind…? How do we kick it off in an interesting way, clearly enough to establish it’s a film school (or at least the name of the series and its creators) but without being too informative or complex? It needs to have a hook-quality to it, something that makes people want to see more. We would like to appeal to you all for any suggestions as to how we approach the intro: we want it short, sweet, and to segue nicely into a movie-in-progress in Sc. 1a. Any ideas you have that we take we will gladly give you credit for. At this point, we’re spending the next two weeks just putting the final touches on everything. Sean and Chandra are working through the rough cut notes, and Sorrelle is working on Hourglass (the sand rotoscoped piece). We will be meeting tomorrow to review the changes we have made so far, which include the completion of Sc. 7, a tentative demo introduction, and changes from Sc. 1a – Sc. 4b. We will also likely draft up some pamphlet-style pitch designs to finalize how we want to supplement the DVD demo with written content for Adult Swim.

Onward and upward!

It’s been a productive week, as always! Our Mon. night meeting went swimmingly, with Hammer making an appearance to do some ADR. Sean and Chandra spent much of the evening exporting Scenes 1a thru 4a, so they could be dropped into Final Cut for a quick preview. Sorrelle was tired but stuck it out. We took notes on technical stuff (continuity, pacing), and made note of what segments we wanted to include for our trailer submission to Tommy and Ryan.

Hammer brought his hard drive, which contained many treasures. He had a bunch of Super 8 and DV footage our meetings, auditions, and voice recording sessions on campus. Sean was excited to weed thru these archives, so he compiled a little something for this post for you all to enjoy:

From here, Sean and Chandra will continue animating. Sorrelle plans to begin Hourglass (the sand rotoscoping) very soon, too.

ALSO — we had the pleasure of spending some one on three time with Jan Krawitz yesterday. She offered a tremendous amount of insightful feedback and support for the project, and encouraged us to send her the finished product upon completion. We may try to arrange for her to come to the MAS Screening, too, as we loved her to death (and she expressed interest)! She was a delightful woman, and it was a great opportunity to get more feedback, which we are always up for. Thank you, Jan! (And thank you Sally, for making it possible!)

Pinch us!

Yesterday’s shoot left no room for complaints! None. It was pure perfection, like a Charlie Kaufman movie dipped in chocolate. None of us could have asked for a better shoot, and it was a nice departure from all the animation for a change. Hopefully the ease and genius that marked yesterday’s shoot will set the tone for the rest of the quarter, and we’ll be met with nothing but good fortune!

Sorrelle came in with her game face on, and from the start, ran a very organized shoot. Kamaria stepped in to be our D.P., and impressed us all by taking extra care with recreating the shots from the original Meshes. Jahla did a fine job acting as Mia, our caricature version of Maya — she really looked and acted the part! Freddy assisted with continuity and misc. studio stuff, while Sean and Chandra sang songs and played basketball, but not before setting up the green screen. Chandra also stepped in to play the creepy shrouded figure from Meshes, ala Mr. Potato Head. All shots were completed with plenty of time to spare, and we wrapped the evening with a dailies screening / Pop 5 challenge! Sorrelle is now sifting through the footage, and hopes to complete it in the next few days. Sean and Chandra will continue animating.

Slug on a Rug would like to extend thanks to ALL who assisted on the shoot yesterday! Great job!

Kamaria, Jahla

Freddy, Ghost of Kamaria

Sorrelle, Sean

Odin, his Handler

Mtg. 03-23-09:

In attendance: Chandra, Hammer, Sean, Sorrelle… with a special appearance by Ryan Ortgiesen!

That’s right! The Ryan Ortgiesen!

(psst! LOOK! There he IS!!)

He came by to grab some vocals for his project, and lent us his talents for some ambient student audio we needed for some scenes. He also helped us select tracks from all the Xarfraz ADR re-dos, and shared a giggle. He ran out before we could own his ass at Scene It.

Sean laid down all new Xarfraz tracks, Sorrelle drew up a shot list for her Mashes shoot on Thurs., and Chandra plotted out movements for Adam in Sc. 1a. We all improvised ambient tracks, and Hammer re-recorded his Xylonian tracks.

Here is a sample test of Adam’s movement completed at the mtg.:

This week we plan to work on more animation and knock out the Mashes shoot. Who needs Cancun when you can have this?

Mtg. 03-16:

In attendance: Chandra, Sean, Sorrelle, Hammer

It has been an incredibly productive last several days here for Slug on a Rug!

We had our W.I.P. on Wed., where we distributed surveys (based of focus group samples) and had the class give us feedback on what little soundtrack we had completed assembling at that point. Very helpful feedback overall — we tallied the results of the questions and on average, 10 out of 13 questions varied between “Strongly Agree” and “Agree”, which was validating! In all, our class found the sample to be interesting, amusing, unusual, and clear. The only 3 questions that had a 50/50 outcome pertained to whether or not we should include more music, if there was a variety of jokes, and if those jokes were offensive, which reflected our expectations for those responses, anyway. We are also divided at this point as to how to best feature a musical element, but more than likely, it will be used in a transitional context and for intro / outro credits.

We also got a lot of individual feedback on the surveys. While they were generally supportive and helpful, there were some remarks that would have benefited from more specificity (i.e. “more funny“, “could be written better“, etc.), but in all, they gave us a lot to discuss and think about. The two most prominent issues raised by the class were that of Zee’s voice / look, and Sarfraz’s look.

Six people in class stated that they had a problem with Zee’s voice. Of those six, four had a problem with the combination of Zee’s voice and physical appearance (the other two cited pacing problems). After a surprisingly brief discussion, it was decided that we’d keep Zee the way she is, as we love her this way. She defies people’s expectations of what she should be, like Dr. Girlfriend from Venture Bros. or Alice from Superjail. She is what she is, which is a strong, intelligent, empowered (if not to the point of preachy), feminist female who likes ladies. If her look seems weird, it’s only to point out the strange hypocrisy that can occur when a person subscribing to one ideology subconsciously adopts the mannerisms of the very cause they’re fighting against. In Zee’s case, it’s her extreme dislike of all things male that is hypocritical, for as she points out all the problems with masculine assertiveness and aggression, she embodies these qualities herself, to some extent. (At least, she does for now!)

BUT, we did take a second look at Sarfraz, and agreed with the four people who thought Sarfraz should be “hella aliened out”, as one survey said. After trying several different voices with Sean, he is now doing a hybrid of Jennifer Coolidge from A Mighty Wind, and Kermit the Frog. It’s kinda sassy, too, and has Sorrelle and Chandra laughing a lot now. Sean just has to re-record all Sarfraz’s vocal tracks.

(ALSO — someone misspelled Sarfraz on their survey (Xarfraz), and we liked their take better, so we’re now changing him to Xarfraz. It ties in with Xylonia better, too. Thanks to whoever came up with that one!)

Speaking of vocal tracks, Slug on a Rug hit a milestone last night when it knocked out four scenes’ worth of vocal soundtracks and completed the soundtrack (phase 1)!!!!! Woo-hoo! At this time, the vocal track of the episode runs 12 mins. 49 secs., which is where we wanted to be (and way less than the previously assumed total of 17 mins.). If we can keep it under 13 or 14 mins., we’ll be in good shape.

So, in all, the W.I.P. went swimmingly, and much of the feedback was put to use in one way or another. We may move on to some animating this week, as we simply cannot wait. Until next time…!

Sean, ever the delicate artist.

Sorrelle learns there is no more pepperoni.

Whatchoo talkin' 'bout Chanders?

So, today’s normal Mon. evening meeting wasn’t able to happen due to work conflicts. Bah. But in lieu of that, we met on Fri. after our meeting with Sally, and had a very productive session!

Sorrelle started looking up burlesque films for rotoscoping. Chandra drew up two new extras and helped Sorrelle pick the burlesque clips featuring the biggest juggies. Sorrelle and Chandra worked through more soundtrack stuff with Sean, but not before they forced him to take a nap due to overworking. Many snacks were consumed along the way, and many laughs were had by all.

We also set out a plan for the WIP and prepared COOLYMPIA for Hometown. Still waiting on more info about entry fees, as there are possible discounts we can get for being TCTV members. A video documenting this week’s meeting misadventures is soon to follow.

In attendance: Chandra, Sorrelle, Sean, Hammer

After a week away, we had a fun time of sharing everything we’d accomplished while apart! Sorrelle brought in some footage she captured of locations in Cali, which she may use in her Meshes parody. There were some lovely shots that may do well as backdrops for her scenes with Jahla. She immediately started experimenting with it in Final Cut, on her new Mac Book Pro.

That’s right. Sorrelle has a Mac Book Pro now. Weeeeeeee!

Chandra showed the group the characters she had been working on. Then she and Sean played the soundtrack for the first scene, which had been assembled earlier in the week. Hammer and Sorrelle offered feedback and helped tweak and refine it, so that scene’s track is now prepped for animation. Music, if any, will be added later in the game.

We also reviewed the Flick and Zee test together as a group and decided not to make any major changes to their vocal tracks. Flick was pitched up a bit, and that, combined with the visual suggestion of their characters, was enough to make them different to everybody we’ve shown ( including Freddy )! We don’t plan to rerecord or recast the roles, though there may be some additional post production work on the tracks in the future.

We’ll be meeting soon to finalize our plans for the Work In Progress presentations. By the end of the week we hope to compile another scene’s worth of vocal tracks…! Until then, Sorrelle will be working on her Meshes stuff, Sean will be tracing, and Chandra will still be drawing.