Recovery Room.

Well hello there.

I write to you now with an air of placidity and a bit of nostalgia. You'll have to pardon my random utterances at the moment. I'm now recovering from a massive dose of battered haddock and chips, prepared in true British style, by actual British people (unfortunately, at American prices!). Deliciously painful. Once I'm done digesting this food sometime next Wednesday, I can probably walk a straight line and sit upright again. But I digress...

As you might recall I mentioned awhile back bringing to everyone a "blast from the past" in my typically vague manner. Well, I'll be vague no more. I recovered the lost original cut of the unfinished Gun Episode 1 from 2003, and I've finally patched it into a working file for your entertainment.

I warn you now -- this movie is beyond bad. If you thought that the official Episode 1 was bad, you'll probably think it's a fucking Scorcese picture after you've seen what it could have ended up looking like. The differences between the old 2003 version and the official 2006 version are indeed staggering. And the differences between then and the current state of Gun Episode 2? Psh. No comparison. I really cannot wait to share episode 2 with the world. It will be epic (for maybe like a week, because let's be honest, ain't nobody that interested in it, 'cept for my friends & associates). Heh.

So, I figure the best way to kill the waiting time of now 3+ years until episode 2 is released is to check out the old-school 2003 version of Gun Episode 1. It is complete right up to the point where my old computer pulled out a Beretta and blew its own silicon brains all over the wall. The mess was ridiculous. I was scrubbing the paint with easy-off for like an hour and a half. Computer suicide is serious business. For real.

Click the image below to check out the original shitshow. Grab a popcorn and prepare for the horror! You've been warned -- after watching this, you might end up dead on the floor, with your face all twisted up like that girl from "The Ring." It's that bad.

Enjoy!

- Fred

Mile Markers

Greetings from the Front lines,

It's been an interesting week. Or maybe an uninteresting week, depending on how you look at it. I've been slowly disseminating the news that my life is going to change drastically in the next few months. Different people are taking it in different ways. I won't bother spreading the news here, because this is all about my work, not about my daily goings-on. At any rate, I've decided to step back and take some perspective. I've been finding it exceedingly difficult to achieve the things I want to achieve lately. I'm not sure where the root of this problem lies, but I know that if I stop running at 150mph and slow down for awhile, I'm more likely to spot it and find a solution.

In keeping with such a motive, I've sequestered myself again, in a manner of speaking. Limiting my contact with the outside world to necessities only, slavishly hewing away at this monstrously ambitious project of mine, trying to make my dreams come alive.

All I can do in the meantime is continue to report on my baby steps until they lead me tiptoeing across the finish line, and occasionally publish little tidbits worth staring at. More on that later.

Oh and the reason I call this post "Mile Markers"....

Today marks three years since the official release of Gun to the public. Here's to milking the successes of one episode for far too long.

... and here's to getting through what lies ahead. Drink up.

VIEW GUN EPISODE 1 ON NEWGROUNDS HERE (part 1)

- Fred

I won't explain anything here. It's incomplete, but it's just more of what you're not getting yet. Just look and enjoy.
NOTE: shot features art by Ramon Rodriguez. Click here to visit his website.

(click to view at full size)

Lines in the Sand.

So...

It feels like it's been awhile since I've put dribbles of the digital sort to this paper. I might as well just give you more bad news, since you're used to hearing about it from me anyway. Yes, Gun is kind of on a hiatus right now. I'm in the process of moving, and my technical limitations will be many and arduous. Not to mention, I'm starting a new job and I simply don't know yet when I'd find the time to work on it, even if I did have the tools at my disposal. As it stands right now, I'm unable to move forward with the episode for the time being, due to boundaries of equipment and productivity.

The second episode is in no way, shape, or form scrapped. Gun WILL be completed. It's not over. Not by a longshot. It's just going to take a few extra steps before I can get there.

What this means is simply this - until I can get back to Gun work, I'm going to be pouring my artistic energies into areas that I've largely ignored in recent times, just in order to stay sharp and focused and give my mind that casual bit of respite it seeks from time to time. What this means is that in the coming weeks, there will actually be consistently new content on the damn website for once! As soon as I find the avenues through which I can air new things, it will be on the world's stage that we call the internet.

I'm wishing I could just cap off my pride and joy and finish this episode now, but I'm looking forward to the active reprieve. It should result in many fun and interesting things. Fingers crossed.

See you there.

Guessing Games.

Hey! Hey! Yeah You! Comm'ere... I got some candy for ya.

OK if you took the candy, you're parents didn't raise you right. You never take candy from strangers, despite the fact that strangers do in fact always have the best candy. But this candy is of the digital and visual variety.

This time around I've got yet another new screenshot from Gun episode 2 for you. It's one of the new characters that appears in this episode. The character's name is Odin. I was pretty blasé about the shot itself, since it isn't a terribly important one. It isn't terribly impressive either, truth be told... but it is probably the best clean look at the character's face that you will get. So here it is.

Click the image to see a larger version.

OK now here's the deal... to make it more interesting for whoever is reading this... I decided to come up with a little teaser kind of thing. So here's the deal...

You might find yourself looking at this character and saying to yourself, "I think I've seen this somewhere before." Well you're kind of right. Truth is, it's not an entirely original design. So before I get a whole slew of idiots sending me hate mail (again!), blasting me for ripping off the idea for this character, I am telling you this now - The mask design and general aura for this character was not only heavily influenced by another character from a different work, it is an intentional nod of homage to that character. Why? Well, this is a character that I always found so badass and mysterious when I was younger. So in coming up with a design concept for this character, I was thinking "Damn, Odin reminds me alot of 'you know who'. It'd be cool if Odin had that same kind of badassery and a similar mask like the one in that movie." I originally conceived Odin with a mask and a mysterious persona. So, since I needed a mask and it was just such a good fit, and I was such a big fan of this character, I said fuck it, and kind of reincarnated that character's haunting look in my own character. So there you have it.

Now here's where YOU come in - You may have noticed that I totally neglected to specifically mention what character I keep referring to. This is because I want you to figure that out. If you are a longtime cartoon and animation fan, this will probably be easier for you. I won't drop any hints here, because frankly I already dropped a couple in the previous paragraph. Now if you think you know the character that Odin's mask design is paying homage to, you can shoot me the answer. You only get one guess so make it count!

If you're right, I might hook you up with a really super sweet prize, like perhaps... maybe, say, a secret link to an advance screening of the first part of the upcoming episode 2 of Gun... maybe. perhaps. ^__^

Hit me with the answer by sending a message with the subject line "Odin's Mask" through one of two ways...

1. I would prefer that you send the answer to the Official Gun MySpace page inbox.

2. If you don't have a MySpace account, you can email it to me, but I don't check the inbox very often! haha. OK, I'll keep my eyes more open in coming days. I promise.

If you're a hot chick, feel free to send that guess along with a hi-res photo of you and your boobies. It would be appreciated. Thanks. Haha.

I made such a big fuss about a new update and this is all there is to it. Ha! Sorry to disappoint you. Truth is, I got tired of seeing that angry/depressed last post being the first one on the blog. I'm over that whole thing now. Well sort of. Anyways, this is the new update, and it's nowhere near as exciting as I made it sound in my promotions! Hahaha.

But hey, if you play along and don't be a lazy shit, you might get something good. Like an advance screening to a crappy overrated cartoon that's soon to come out... It's called "A Plate of Butter". Haha sorry Ramon, I had to do it. By the way, Ramon is NOT allowed to guess, because I'm almost certain that he will know the answer to this guessing game. No unfair advantages allowed.

Everyone else, have at it! Peace.

- Fred

Gun Blogcast #2 - "Fan Service"

Hola,

Bienvenido al segundo Blogcast de Gun the Animated Series.

OK enough of that. Today I'm giving you an inside look at the process of crafting a small but scintillating shot. Or actually titillating would be a better word. Yes.

I explain here the steps that I took in creating a small part of an animated sequence involving Alex (again). In it, I show the various techniques I employed in animating a shot of Alex closing up her stealth suit as she puts it on in the final scene. She was naked before, but now her clothes are on, and we get to see how that happens. I talk about my use of varying layers in the creation of the shot, and the additions I had to make based on the needs of the storyboards I created. I also talk briefly about my use of graphic symbols and provide a little insight into the direction in which I tend to approach my animation.

Plus we get to stare at boobies for ten minutes. (somewhere, a man is smiling right now... no, not me. Pervert.)

This was a fun blogcast to create, simply because this time I wasn't completely underwhelmed by my work, unlike with my running water sequence (see blogcast #1). Also, I'm running a bunch of other programs at the same time, as evidenced by my buddy Matt popping up on my MSN Messenger, which made me laugh in retrospect. I also noticed that I tend to suck my teeth a lot when I have no idea what to say next. It's an unconscious habit, so you're just gonna have to deal with it and learn to laugh at it. One of my many quirks.

Anyways, I also decided to make this one a little more presentable (and probably will do so with all future blogcasts as well) by providing titles and some sweet, mellow background music by Tortoise, which I mixed myself (poorly). The song is called Djed and if you don't know Tortoise, I'd suggest you go get to know them, cuz they're great, really relaxing, chilled out music.


So pop some corn, or corn some beef, or beef some... nevermind. Just watch and enjoy.

Also today is Artboy's birthday, so happy birthday to him (again).

Peace and Hair Grease.

Gun Blogcast 2 - Fan Service