Happy Holidays Greeting to All!

More Youtube Posts - Empty Morning & Halo Plasma Rifle on Ebay With Free D'Fly Game Flipz Book

Here's two more recent Youtube posts of mine. The first is my 2nd sound sketch. Empty Morning is a original instrumental I wrote, played, and recorded (with over duds) on a nylon string guitar in 1982. The visuals are just to give music something to play to.



The second, is a cheap way of plugging an auction on Ebay. I selling a Halo 3 Plasma Rifle laser tag on Ebay and to sweeten the pot I'm offering a Dragonfly Halo 3 Game Flipz Mini-Book as a FREE EXTRA BONUS. This one of only 4 made, and your only chance to get one. I have included a new HD version of the flip book movie to give you better view than the original movie, such over 59,000 views and many requested to have it. Remember it's FREE with the winning bid. It a true, exclusive, collectible. Don't miss out.



Enjoy.

New Youtube Posts

I just post three new movies on my Youtube page. Two are of Dragonfly Flipz Books and the other is my first music video of "Wraped Sky Band Music".

DragonflyEnt Youtube Page



One of my last New Year's Resolutions was to renew my interest in music. as I
November Night is one of our favorite original tunes, which I wrote. This was actually the first time all three of us played it together. Richard, the flute player, and I had work on it before. I always loved the way we did a "stop time" pause near the end of the tune. It was performed before an audience of one, Joyce Benitez, my girlfriend at the time, at her apartment. Fun was had by all, so before the cassette tape totally rots away, I thought I'd share with with the world. (At the risk of making a complete fool of myself...well, too late now) Enjoy.


The Iron Man - War Machine Comix Flipz book (concept demo) was done several years ago, long before the movie was started. It's made from a test clip from NIC Entertainment, an Korean animation studio did as a demo for Marvel. I wish I have the full clip to show, but I return the demo tape to the friend who lend it to me. The NIC did the art for the War Machine graphic novel released under Marvel Comics' MAX Comics imprint. Maybe I get to make some more, if Marvel is interested.


The Halo 2 Dragonfly Game Flipz Mirco-Book is the first Halo Flipz book I did originally as 5" x 7" book. This time, I shrank it to trading card size, just to see how small this flip book format would work. Actually it worked pretty good. Still, without a licensing deal I can't produce them.

Mariam Makaba

I was really sad to read the news of Miriam Makaba passing. She was a truly remarkable person. If you don't know about her, do yourself a favor and read this obit from the NY Times, then search out her music.

Miriam Makeba - New Times Obit.
I remember my oldest sister playing Miriam's album featuring "The Click Song" back as a teen in the '60's. It's a warm memory for me. But, also it was probably my first expose to world music. I could never figure out how she did that vocal. Check out the youtube clip.

The Click Song - Miriam Makeba

The power of her songs will live forever. May she rest in joyous peace.

New Hope for the Future

I'm not big on political posts. That said, I barely held back the tears at the news of the Obama win. On Election Day, my wife and I took our boys ("mixed-race" kids) into the voting booth with us. I wanted them to share in this milestone, with the hope that maybe, in their lifetime, the whole "hyphen-American" labels will disappear.


We, all Americans, did "win". Like-minded people kept the Dream of Martin Luther King alive and made it a real, every day, element of their lives. We kept the "Faith" and lived to see the seeds of our efforts, and the efforts of all those who came before us, bear fruit in our grown (and growing ) children.

This isn't a victory for a single Black man, or racial group. That is much too narrow a view of what this election victory stands for. I think Barack Obama won on "the content of his character", which, of course, is a turn on the famous line from the Martin Luther King's March on Washington speech. Born in 1950, I have witnessed and lived through many historic moments of the last (almost) six decades, with a mixture of proud, happiness, pain, and shame. Examine any piece of American, (or World History), and you'll probably feel the same range of emotions.

The two basic personal beliefs I hold: 1. There is only one Race on this earth , the Human Race, a Family of Man, dysfunctional perhaps, but still just one tribe. 2. I'm an proud American. The greatness of the United States of America is in the concept that's embodied in the words "We the People..." America is place where all earth's children came together and shared, learned from each other, and they choose to become "real Americans". Some came by choice, some by desperation, some by chains. Our dark times, were when we choose to exclude fellow human beings for petty, evil, reasons. Our brightest moments are times like this election when inclusion is the order of the day. Barack Obama was a magnet that drew new young voters into the system and older voters, who may have lost faith, back into the system. For that act alone, he is a winner.

The question of will he succeed as President is misleading. The real question is will we succeed in helping him perform to the best of his ability? Do we support his platform of change with positive actions, not just words? Challenge his ideas, we may oppose, in a respectful, thoughtful, constructive manner or tear him down at the first misstep? It's our choice.

I look forward to better day and I will do my best to help achieve them. There is hope for the future, again. I'm so grateful I lived to see this day.

Classic Vinyl Album Cover Art

Over at Animation Nation, the subject of album cover art came up. Some of us old-timers were fondly remembering a couple of our favorites and the ELP BRAIN SALAD SURGERY cover came up. The cover artist was H. R. Giger, of "Alien" fame. The is a great example of the artful, over the top, packaging produced during the album's heyday, 1973. So, for those too young to know what we talking about here it is.







Enjoy.

Star Wars Clone Wars - Movie

Well, for what it's worth, I saw Clone Wars, last week, with my two boys, and I was very disappointed by it. I've directed my share of TV action-adventure episodes (Thundercats, Gargoyles, ExoSquad and Nascar Racers, on which I was the top dog, and had the same experience of making my first three episodes in a movie to start off the series), and you sort of "get what you get". But within the first 5 minutes of Clone Wars my heart sank. The voice over was really bad, feeling like it was just tacked on, and things just got worse from there. It's the same sinking feeling I got when I saw the original theatrical releases of "Dune" and "Blade Runner" as examples of movies not living up the source material. I just felt the directing on Clone Wars was totally lacking in pacing and impact. My boys felt it was okay, but they ripped it apart on the home.

I think it's tough to do stories of iconic characters the who's destinies (and deaths), is so well known. How do you keep story dramatically interesting when you know these guys can't really be seriously hurt? The creative team has their work cut out for them.

Hopefully, the Lucas studio will improve the show during the series. I still like the art style and hope they have success with Clone Wars. Time will tell.

Star Wars Clone Wars Toon Flipz Book

This is my Dragonfly Toon Flipz mini-book of the first Star Wars Clone Wars "Series Preview Trailer" released last year. I made this concept demo book and sent it, with a proposal, to show's executive producer at Lucas Arts. The proposal included mock-up covers for a Star Wars Force Unleashed and Fracture, upcoming Lucas Arts video games. I know the proposal was passed on to another (marketing) executive. But I never heard any more about it. So, although two copies of my Clone Wars Flipz book is floating around he Lucas Arts offices, somewhere, I must assume it's a D.O.A.project. In any case, I'm posting it here (and on youtube.com, check out the high quality version for best viewing)) as a "Fan Movie" It's a "Concept Demo" and not for sale. If you like it, spread the word to other Star Wars fans and maybe email Lucas Arts. Your comments are always welcomed.

I'm still searching for the "right eyeballs" to see the potential my Dragonfly Flip book format has. It is ideal for movie and TV tie books. It's like photo-graphic novel with motion. Viewer comments on youtube or other sites tells me there is an interest in my Dragonfly Flipz books, so I'll just keep trying. I'm going to try contacting Dark Horse Comics, again, as they are a big Star Wars licensee. Sent them a email, also if you like my Flipz Book.



In case you missed it, here the first trailer:


I'm looking forward to the movie opening this week. From the look of the latest trailers it looks great. So, far the animated versions have been top notch (maybe, they will for the episodes I, II, and III).

I'll be post more video of other D.O.A. Dragonfly Flipz books. I realize I have back log of stuff the need the see the light, like a Hellboy Comix Flipz book set and Halo trading card size mini-flip book. Until then enjoy.

Who is Rocket Johnson? - Charity Auction

Over on the Animation Nation board, member Dr. Hong, ask members to pass along this notice.

"7.01.2008
CHARITY AUCTION
"Who is Rocket Johnson?" is a 72 page graphic novel anthology being self-published by Walt Disney Animation Studio's Story Artists and Directors. It's an all-ages book in which every artist answers the question: "Who is Rocket Johnson?" It will be sold exclusively at booth 2302 in San Diego (http://www.comic-con.org/) and is a limited edition of 1,000 copies.

I’ve put a copy on Ebay to help support research in finding a cure for Multiple Sclerosis.
The book is signed by all of the Disney artists in the book and also comes with a set of pins we made special for Comic Con. The proceeds from this book will be donated to the National Multiple Sclerosis Society (http://www.nationalmssociety.org) to fund cutting-edge research, drive change through advocacy, facilitate professional education, and provide programs and services to help people with MS and their families move their lives forward. The auction will end on Jul-10-2008 at 10:30 a.m. pst.

The auction is located here: item number - 160256489260

Please help us spread the word about the book and the auction!"

It's my total pleasure to pass the word along. It looks like a great book and the auction is a real inspiring action. The ebay auction page includes several interior pages. Here's wishing the best of everything to the creators. I'll be missing the Comic Con this year, so I'll have to have a friend try to pick me up a copy.

Enjoy, and pass the word.

Paul Chadwick's Concrete - Comix Flipz Book

Here's my Dragonfly Comix Flip Book adaptation of a Paul Chadwick's "Concrete" story, "Watching a Sunset". Paul is one of my favorite comic book creators, really deserving of wider recognition. Concrete is Paul's best known work in a long and very creative career. There was talk of a Concrete live action movie at one time, I hope the success of recent comic book-based features jump-starts that project again.

The Dragonfly Concrete Comix Flipz book is adapted from animation I did many moons ago. The original comic story can be seen at the end of the flip book. The original animation is stored on tape somewhere. I'll have to find it and post it sometime. The Concrete Comix Flipz book project, as a licensed product from Dark Horse Comics, got sided track somehow, but I hope to get it on track this year (with the fans help). Leave comments here, and at Paul's blog site (link at right) and the Dark Horse sites, if you want to see this finished.

This project has a long storied history that I'll relate in a future post. For now just enjoy it.

Batman Sketch

Here's a sketch book drawing to welcome this summer's Batman movie and animated DVD. I'm actually looking forward more to the anime styled Gotham Knight DVD than the movie.
Here's the trailer:


I wonder if other Warner Bros. properties will get this "Animatrix" style treatment. I'm not sure if that's a good, or bad, thing. The U.S. shows may come off looking childish and flat in comparison.

Time will tell. Enjoy.

Happy Father Day

Here's wishing everyone a Happy Father's Day (U.S. holiday). I enjoyed a wonderful day with my family. We attended a free concert at the Rochester International Jazz Festival (being held this week) and had a nice dinner out.

Best of all, they give me this cool t-shirt from Threadless.com.

It's getting to be a tradition to get a t-shirt on Father's Day. It's much better than a tie. Last year's was a Snoopy "Joe Cool" shirt that read "Unathletic Dad". I loved and wore it to all their Little League games, just for fun.

Hope all you Dads have a good day, too.

Kung Fu Panda

I saw Kung Fu Panda this last weekend with my whole family, my wife and two boy (10 and 11 years old), and we all loved it. My most pleasant surprise is the was seeing the story co-credit of my friend Cyrus Voris on the big screen. I totally forgot he was doing a "Dreamworks project" a couple of years ago.



Cyrus and I met in the '80 working on his first animation job as story artist and later scriptwriter for the Galaxy Rangers series. He is one of the many great, and talented, friends I made on that project. He's come along way since then. Recently he and his writing partner Ethan Rieff, created and wrote Sleeper Cell, the acclaimed cable series.

Great work, Cyrus.

(On minor note (at least career-wise), Cyrus wrote the dialog for my comic book story "Warrior in the Mist".)


Another added enjoyment in Kung Fu Panda movie was the great the 2D animation in the opening dream sequince and the ending credits. They've both been post on the web. If, Dreamworks does a TV series or direct to DVD, Blu-Ray, follow up, they should use the 2D style with 3D Po wrap-arounds. That would be cool.

Go see Kung Fu Panda. You'll really enjoy.

New Sketch - Doctor Apollo

I just pick up a new sketch book and finally got around to drawing something in it. Doctor Apollo is a original character that's be knocking around my head for a long time. I don't have any great plans for him, but time will tell.

Enjoy.

Warrior in the Mist - Comix Flipz Mirco Flipz book

Here's my Dragonfly Flipz™ Micro Flipz™ book adaptation of my Warrior in the Mist animatic movie. This Dragonfly Comix Flipz™ is the latest version (format) of my Flipz books. The Micro Flipz is about the size of a trading card, 2 1/2 " x 3 1/2", great for custom promotional items. I'm going to do a post, soon, detailing the development of the Dragonfly Flipz™ format. That might help me re-focus on it's core advantage: presenting animators with a book format for their animated shorts and webisodes. Contact me for further info.



In case you missed it here the Warrior in the Mist - Part 1, animatic movie:



This Warrior in the Mist Comix Flipz is available on my Ebay store page (listed at the bottom of this blog page). Buy it now, share it with your friends, and help me keep my Dragonfly Flipz™ project going.

Enjoy.

Top Ten (-2) Dragonfly Flipz Movies

(Click on the Image to enlarge)



Here's my top ten Dragonfly Flipz Movies on youtube as of today. Just a frame grab showing the first eight movies of my "Most Viewed" page, totaling 103,957 views. I didn't included the Star Gladiator Game opening view counts. (You can click on the side bar to check them out.) The Final Fantasy XIII Game Flipz is still holding on to the lead, with Halo 3 close behind. I just want to thank all the people who took the time to view, and make comments, on my Dragonfly Flipz movies. Their interest helps keep me moving forward to this project. Look for more Dragonfly Flipz soon.

Enjoy.

Metropolis Cinema Flipz Mini-Book

I here the Metropolis Cinema Flipz Mini-Book I posted about a while back. It's a extended version of a earlier Metropolis Flipz book. Unfortunately, it seems the German rights owner (not Kino Video) is uninterested in my modest licensing proposal (after a couple of unanswered emails, and letter, I can take a hint). So, here it is for you pleasure, and here it will remain, for now. But, do check out the Kino Video version of the great silent movie classic. Their version is excellent.

Enjoy

The Terror of the Blank Page

As I mentioned in my New Year's post, I want to get back to drawing and working on long dormant projects. To say the least this year has been year of changes for me as my family and I moved from sunny Los Angeles (Glendale, CA, actually) to cold, snowy Rochester, New York (we love the change of seasons, so it feels great to be here). But any move is very destructive to creative flow. It takes a while to get settled. I'm still not there yet, but working on it.

But to help thing along I picked it Scott McCloud's "Making Comic" book. It's a fun read and especially for me as a way to get back to basics of drawing for fun, again. Comic art was my first creative love and I miss not doing it. So, I brought a new drawing table and was shocked to realize it's the first I've had in over ten years. I done a lot of storyboard work on company art desks, or just leaning a drawing board on a desk at home (a computer desk, of course).

But what really, as I finished setting the new table the last image of the McCloud book struck me, as being all most cosmic.


In comparison, here my art desk.


Now, all that left is to start. That blank page can be terrorizing. I know a lot of artists go through this (creative dry patchs). For me, it's like having a fear of holding a pencil, again. I know I can draw, I have old drawing to prove it. In, fairness, my creative energies were channeled to my flip books stuff. But, now, I feel it's time to get back to drawing and take it to the next level. I definitely want to explore the digital medium. But, first things, first. The blank paper and a pencil.

Wish me luck,I'll keep you posted.

Happy New Year & New Resolutions

First, I hope everyone had a great holiday season, and here's wishing you a very Happy New Year. It's time for New Year resolutions, again.

I, for one, like to make New York resolutions, if done in a positive way. I see it as just setting new, or revised, goals for yourself after some self reflection. Just, don't beat yourself up if you fall short of your goals. There's always next year. One of the easiest way to gauge yourself is to look at last year's New Year's resolution.

My two resolutions were to revise my blog, and pick up the guitar again. I'm happy to say, I did both pretty well. I've been posting more to this Dragonfly Views blog than my other web sites and really enjoying it. I thank all the people viewing this blog from all over the world. As for the guitar playing, I'm still at it. I play, at least, 10 minutes a day and more when time allows. I've started working on a music project, Warped Sky - Stray Cloud, a combination of songs from old tapes and new renditions of original tunes. Mostly it's for my friends, Richard and Rodney, the old Warped Sky band. But I think I'll post it online at some point.

So, what are this New Year's resolutions? Lets see:

To get back to drawing, for fun, and profit. Generally, put down some of my original ideas in more concrete forms like storyboards, animatics, model sheets, etc. Also, make better use of my website and blog to get the Dragonfly Flipz off the ground. To that end, I'll be offering a download version of some of my Dragonfy Flipz books soon.

I thinks that enough for this year.

Please check in often and I'll keep you posted.