Breaking it all down

When I started this semester, I had this goal of animating

1) Pizza Jockeys Episode 2
2) The trailer for my new project called Garden
3) and Chicken Wings.

Two out of three ain't bad, I'd say.

I've actually finished the boards for PJ2, but that's also when I realized that it would be a huge undertaking, especially including the rewrite I made at the last minute. I've convinced myself it'll be completely worth it, though if it's not I'll just blame my dog.

The initial recording phase went...less than desirably, thanks in no small part to my sudden bouts of nerve-induced insomnia. I don't think I've ever tried harder to sleep than last week Wednesday, except maybe that one time in 6th grade when I had a Mountain Dew in the middle of the afternoon only to come to the startling conclusion that I'd never had caffeine before.

The worst is over though, I think. It's probably just stress from school, which happens to everyone who's a senior in college and human, combined with my whack-attack 2nd shift job. I can't complain: I get paid to watch movies and do homework. No, we don't have any openings.

If you've ever not been able to sleep, you know that your body just won't shut down, you can't focus, you definitely are NOT inspired and your only hope is that you've prayed hard enough for a nice long infomercial about Time Life's latest oldies collection to lull you to sleep. I ended up making an omelet, running around my back yard and punching the grass in futility. I'm okay now, really.

Anyways, I've started writing a song for my Audio Seminar II class and am pleased to say that Kanye West better watch his rear views for Commander Keen of Honeybees Join the Bomb Squad fame. It's funny how all the knowledge about different programs and music theory and uh...art theory come full circle right when you need them most. No, I'm no pro at the whole 'hit-maker' thing, but I'm just now starting to grasp what it is that tricks the ear into being interested in a certain songs for about 3 to 4 minutes. Miles High was finally posted at Newgrounds after about 2 1/2 weeks. Freakin' A. Better late than never, I s'pose.

The website is coming along, slow but sure. I literally had to go back to the drawing board and re-teach myself for scratch how to digitally paint in Photoshop. I simply have an animator's mindset: get results quick. That does NOT work with painting. Hell, it doesn't work with animating either; it just feels faster I guess.

End of horribly long, late-night post.

-Matt G

More Chicken Wings and...a Song!

So I submitted Chicken Wings to Newgrounds and Break after I re-adjusted the pre-loader and all that rot.

Also, I have a Myspace page for the tunes I make in my free time and for all the music you'll find in my animations and movies. You can find it here. If you're on Digg, be sure to digg it...not bury it.

-Matt G

Chicken Wings

My new little squiggle-vision animation about a fat guy ordering fast food is now up and available for viewing on DeviantArt and Youtube (be sure to click "watch in high quality")!

Hope it makes you giggle.

-Matt G

Pizza Jockeys launches!

After much ado, Pizza Jockeys Episode 1 has finally been completed and posted on YouTube and, most namely, NewGrounds, where it received Daily Second Place and a spot on the Front Page! You're welcome egoraptor, we kept that spot warm for you. Anyways, thanks for that all you wonderful internetters and here is once again.



In other news, I'm finally taking my digital portfolio class and so ArtWeapon.com should be coming to you very soon. I plan on keeping the blog; having done some research, I figure that's the best way to keep all fronts manned and secure.

Coming soon! Chicken Wings: A really silly story that my buddy Josh W. told me about some enormous fat guy that came into the Dominos where he worked and proceeded to choke on his own fat. I'll put that up on Newgrounds as well and we'll see what happens there, score-wise.

There's an interesting thing that happens when you post stuff on Newgrounds. With the help of my chum Rob, I carefully calculated which day, which hour, precisely which minute I should post my five minute wood-fired opus and decided on 5:30pm on a Friday. I sweated out six and a half hours, checking that site more times than I could count every two seconds to see if I would acquire the coveted Daily First spot on in the Flash Portal. I feared that the internet might be shut down from another terrorist attack and my prize would be lost in the ether for all of eternity, or no one would like it and I'd completely have to rethink my career options based solely on the opinions of a single web forum.

In the end it posted just fine to many good review and a shameless plug by another Newgrounds-er who apparently has a copy write on all footage of real pizza ...ever. I determined that even though I almost ripped my eyes out because I worked on PJ so long, I really don't have a choice but to make Episode 2 (well, Episode 1: Part 2, really) because I was genuinely surprised that people took a liking to the characters and story and the series in general. The team that heads up the site liked it enough to put it on the front page for a few days, and that gesture alone gives me the juice to soldier on and finish what I started.

More to come.

-Matt G

P.S. I was beat out for Daily First by hentai pr0n. I wouldn't have it any other way. Wait. Yes I would.