MTV ID's from the 90's

If you read this blog, you've probably read that i got my start with an MTV ID commission, here's some others that were produced at roughly the same time.. some of my favorites. I'm currently working on getting together as many as i can get a hold of, i want to make a full res festival program out of it, some are really tough to track down. i've talked to a lot of the animators, I'll update this as they come in.



This one above is by the jail-bird Steve Dovas, it's a true classic that got tons of play.



This one above is my personal favorite, directed and animated by Dieter Mueller, *thanks danny



This one is by sir rockness, Danny Antonucci, inspired by his short film "Lupo the Butcher".



This next one above is by Olivia Ward and Miguel Martinez-Joffre, it came out the same week as my own ID. It won a BDA gold, beating me out, i won the bronze that year. Stay tuned, I'll keep posting as I get them.

Influence: Hisko Hulsing

Dutch animation has rich tradition of quality and originality. Some of the first independent animators I started to study were Borge Ring, Paul Driessen, and Co Hoedeman. Borge Ring's "Anna and Bella"(1984) was one of the films that solidified my interest in hand drawn line animation. This tradition continues with Hisko Hulsing. I first met Hisko in Annecy France back in 2004, where he was showing his film "Seventeen". I was there with my film "Delivery", I like to think our styles are similar, albeit, I believe him to be way more advanced than myself.
Hisko has the rare skill of artistic diversity. He is not only a talented draftsman, but he excels at animation, painting, music, and even the challenging game of government financing. The content of his films are emotionally charged, and quite often, actually regularly, on the dark side. Hisko does not shy away from content that other animators would never consider. He uses sex, violence, and solitude as tools to express his stories flawlessly. Hisko's newest film "Junkyard" seems very promising, go HERE for some clips and stills from it. He sent me the animatic last year, and I really think it's his best work yet, even in the animatic stage. Hisko utilizes pantomime, which I've always sworn by as a great way to tell stories. Try to check out his work.. it can be tough to find, he's managed to stay off of youtube.

Plushgun Album artwork...

Taylor Armstrong, the Guitarist for the Brooklyn band "Plushgun" (he's also a talented animator and artist) asked me to design the cover for their upcoming album last month. I love doing album art, and I wish people asked me more often. I really dig their music as well, so try to catch a show or at least check them out on myspace. Above is the initial sketch i showed them, and below is a portion of the final art. enjoy.

Sketchbook: "PUPPET" development..

I'm often asked how to go about starting a film, and I always answer the same way: it begins entirely in the SKETCHBOOK.. this is where ideas are explored and figured out. there's no judge to say that this is bad or good.. just exploration and refinement which the audience will only see the result of. The roughs in your sketchbook are studies that are a necessary part of figuring out the complexities of moving a character within a space.

Please visit the NEW WEB PAGE OF SKETCHES with most of my sketch book drawings for my last film "Puppet". Enjoy! happy vOting!