Well folks, I am taking a cue from the Ward-o-matic and putting my own particular spin on the whole blog thing. It will be primarily dedicated to art, illustration and film. I thought I would kick this thing off by talking about a documentary project I just completed about Revolutionary War Brig. General and South Carolina hero, Francis Marion--otherwise known as "The Swsamp Fox." Our production, which was co-produced by my good friend Wavy Davey at SCETV in South Carolina, focuses mainly on Marion's guerilla campaign against the Brits after the fall of Charleston in May of 1780.
This project started as an illustration portfolio. I was looking for new material to explore in my illustration work and I just thought that Francis Marion would be an ideal subject. Somehow, three years, and about a hundred illustrations later, I ended up with a documentary. Who knows how these things happen? I'm really pleased with it. Technically, it was a little shaky in some parts. Some of the stuff we chroma-keyed out looked a little strobe-ish and there were a couple of illustrations that I'm not as proud of as I am others... I am nitpicking thought.
I created the illustrations in Corel Painter. I then layered and blurred foreground layers to create a depth of field effect. Lastly, I brought all into After Effects and created a simple tracking shot, tracking each layer seperately. I'll post a step by step at some point. It's wicked easy and it looks amazing. I really dig AfterEffects. I holpe to dive into some animation if I ever get some free time. Anyway,...
I do miss the project. Davey and I work really well together and we both are sort of nutty about different details. I'm hoping that he will move down to the ATL so that we can continue to collaborate on other projects. As my good friend Ward-O-Matic is fond of pointing out, it's important for us creative types to stick together to nurture, collaborate with AND, for that matter, compete with one another. There are so many talented people in this city that it's a pity not to have some kind of community to nestle in.
Hopefully that will all change soon!!!
1 comment:
Well, whadduya know! Another stinkin' blog! But this one's got GOOD artwork, not the piddling hackwork that I try to pawn off as art by me over at The Ward-O-Matic! Very nice, James. I love the name, too. Also, I can't wait to check out the doc. I still think we should do a screening of it with family and friends. It'll be a hoot.
Best of luck on this bloggity blog blog, JP!
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