Here are Youtube links to THREE movies that I've worked on. First, I'll show you the movies, and then if you so choose, you can read more info about them further down the post. Enjoy!

(BTW... I'm Jack Patchell in the credits)

MAKING THE GRADE

Part 1: http://youtube.com/watch?v=WhV8OT11AX0
Part 2: http://youtube.com/watch?v=emBK3a1YAUA

Note: There is no music. Scroll down to see why.

CHESTER'S BLOSSOM

http://youtube.com/watch?v=8KwwPN-SMyk

THE ART OF KISSING (trailer)

http://youtube.com/watch?v=aZbWRseAi5w



Making the Grade Info:

Jobs I performed on the film:

-Director
-Producer
-Writer
-Lead (and only) animator
-Editor
-Storyboard artist
-Foley/ADR
-A ton of other little things

I know, I know. I've been holding out on you for too long. There were two reasons. 1) I wanted the film to qualify for Sundance, and they don't allow movies that have been broadcasted on the internet. 2) I have limited distribution rights for the music in the movie. So far, I've only paid for the right to show it at film festivals, so if I show the movie containing their music on the net (After signing a contract saying I would NOT do that) they could sue me into the stone age if they found out.

So, I'm showing it now because Sundance rejected it, and yesterday someone simply said "Why not show us the movie without music?" So I cut out the music. I do think the movie is better with the music, but this is better than nothing, I suppose.

I've already written a lot about the movie, and you can read about it here: http://www.staredit.net/?topic=196

Chester's Blossom

Jobs I performed on the film:

-Writer
-Grip
-Locations Manager
-Assistant editor

I do hope that this isn't entertaining only to film students. Our class was divided into groups, and each group was to create a silent short film that emulated one of the leading silent film makers. Our group got D. W. Griffith. Since my primary job was the writer, I decided to lampoon Griffith's Broken Blossoms.

You'll notice that the film is extremely slow paced, and too much of the story is given away through the awful, flowery title cards. (Which I wrote, lol) This was a deliberate choice that was made because that's how Griffith's films were: Very slow by modern standards and filled with clunky, overly revealing title cards.

In the script, I planned for a much more elaborate action sequence than the one you see in the final film. Originally, it was supposed to take Bart longer to find them, Chester never puts down his gun, and Lily spends more time trying to hide from Chester. Also, there was to be a brawl between Bart and Chester, with Bart winning, and Chester being hauled away by Bart's police buddies.

But since I did not get the director's chair, and since I had to be at a meeting during the forest shooting, the director decided to shorten and alter the finale. As you'll see, Chester stupidly puts his gun down, and it's obvious throughout that Bart is not far behind. And finally, Chester just gets flat out shot and left in the woods. Yes, I do have problems with the way that worked out, but there was really nothing I could do, and the movie isn't that bad with its current ending. I still had a good time, and the class enjoyed it.

The Art of Kissing

Jobs I performed on the film:

-Storyboard Artist
-Behind the scenes filming/pictures
-Grip
-Set Decoration

This is a feature film that I helped to make over the summer. The film itself is not finished being edited, so the director and producer have put together this trailer and they're using it to promote the movie. The shoot was a fun experience, and I hope that the final film turns out well.

Upcoming projects for your's truly:

In January, or possibly February, I will direct a short film that I've written and casted already. I'll also be the producer on a short film that a friend of mine will direct. I could possibly be producer on another short film if things play out like I hope they will. And finally, I'll be shooting my first feature film in summer, 2008. I've been hounding the director and producer of the "Art of Kissing" for advice on how to run a large crew, find money, etc... I've got the script written, and I've already got a couple of actors and crew members on board. I just have to keep chuggin' along. Wish me luck. ;p

Post has been edited 1 time(s), last time on Dec 14 2007, 12:34 pm by Doodan.

The music in Chester's Blossom is a bit too loud and obnoxious in my opinion.

But The Art of Kissing looks hilarious

DonkeyWagon Entertainment presents: A movie review (or short film?) on Jack Patchells work on "Making the Grade". Parts one and two.

The Plot: So, its pretty much starts at anywhere ,USA School where Jacob, a this boy who appears to be depressed must survive school while defeating evil test papers with his magical school supplies and or equipment. There he meets a girl named Becky, your typical girl that looks like the perfect match for him wants to study together. While going to his locker, he introduces the magical school supplies and or equipment a new buddy named Biik. (And for those who haven't realized is a parody of the mechanical pencil line from Bic). He goes to class bla blah meets the girl again and then he heads back to the locker. He then start to talk and then Becky apparently overhears the magical things talking which Jacob to his suprise doesnt know shes there and tries to stall until it ultimately fails. Then bla bla bla they talk about the origin and bla bla bla. Then like a scary movie the lights go out and they must go fight Sycro on the roof. They head up to meet him, more bla bla bla
and Jacob takes the stand and fights him in a semi dragon ball way.

Rating: 7.5/10
Comments: The plot seems quite good, you are on the right track but for some reason I feel there is some generic themes in it that well copies itself over and over. I like the idea of a boy and talking school supplies and or equipment that has to fight Sycro, some maniac that attacks with word problems!?!?

Design 7.3/10
Some really heavily inspired anime-like designs in your characters. We got the facial features and body features done well. We got the 4 fingers + thumb. Bulging anime eyes and other cliches. All though I'm still thinking there could of been much more work on the existing features like the hair for example. Or Torso.

Characters: 6.8/10
Not the greatest of the bunch but they work. It's got the brains, the clueless, the ignored, the idiot etc.
All those Sycro looks ugly from a perspective. I thoght it was gonna be something final fantasy related like sephiroth.

Animation: 6.9/10
A pretty good attempt if I may say with the programs you were using. I really admire shorts where its the creator himself who does that kind of work because most of todays television has like over a 100 people working on one scene. But, I did notice at times there was voice delay as in sometimes when a character is talking the mouth isnt moving in sync. Also there is some character movement but most of the time everyone is just standing still. It would be more work but it does give off a better reflection on how well the animator has worked on it rather then just a rushed product. More things that bothered me was the movement of different body features and such. Say what you want but when looking in this category I see the best look good when there is actual hair movement. I don't like ones in cartoons/animes where the hair is just deifying gravity rather then move all in one with the rest of the body. More marks I have to take away from is the fact that do blink but thats when there actually doing something. When I was watching it I was like "wow don't there eyes start getting dry?". It's like a moral for cartoons/animes. Blinking. The facial expressions are dramatic in most scenes but in others its quite bland.

Colour:7.1/10
Well I'm still taking art so I can't really go into the mega detail such as contrast or contour but the colours you've used are executed quite well. All though I was still looking for more vividness in the short. Such as more use of lighter colours and also uses of darker ones to make a hybrid formula. Also while I'm in the subject of art, the blurrying starting at 5:36 was well... sloppy. Its like they where sort of just standing still looking into outerspace like if a carrier was hovering.

Entertainment from watching: 2/10
Could of at least been some kind of funny poke at something or in the plot it uses a naruto (as in the plot may sound boring but when its 15mins in you get the joke). Yeah it needed more entertainment value.

Audio: ?/10
Can't be rated do to music not being available.

The Video: 8/10
I enjoyed watching it. Still goes to show that there are still people who actually care about the animating process
and not just slap on name and instant boom.

Bonuses for anything that made this thing so great: 2.5/5
Needz moar parodies of todays showz like pokeman plus part 3. I don't want to be left on a cling hanger. Or even better you can just illustrate it in a web comic book form.

Overall (Not calculated average): 6/10
Ending Comments: Quite impressive work you have done Jack. Big inspiration for the SEN community for those who are also doing things in the art related works. (Such as me).
And for an added twiest I'll draw Jacob, the magic pencil and that bad dude an post em up tomorrow.

Since the quote tags insisted on being gay, I've added red numbers to your quote so that you can tell what I'm responding to.


1) Well, DBZ was the first anime I liked, and the first one I tried drawing. So it's understandable that it would be an influence. In retrospect, I do wish I'd made some different choices, but if you try to fix every little issue as you think of it, you'll never get done.

2) Generic themes that copy themselves? Explain please. Plus, I really liked the idea of the bad guy being an evil test. If he didn't act test-like, then he might as well have just been a generic super villain. (which he pretty much is, anyways =\)

3) The hair is the way it is because it was easier to draw, lol.

4) I sorta wish I'd had less action and more character development when I look back on it, but then people would probably gripe that it wasn't exciting enough, lol. I think I managed to cram a lot into 14 and a half minutes.

5) Most anime has a lot of characters that stand still for a long time. And the reason should be obvious: Easier to draw. What parts were out of sync? I've spent so much time looking at the thing that I think I would have noticed. And about the blinking, yea, I suppose it wouldn't have been terribly difficult to have them blink more often, but I just didn't do it. Another thing that bugs me is all the frozen people in the hallways, but meh, what's done is done and I don't have the motivation to change it.

6) I deliberately avoided too much flashy coloring and camera work. One reason why is that it would make the film harder to make, lol. The other is that I prefer the "Invisible style" approach to filmmaking, in which the camera acts like an invisible witness, and the cinematography does not call attention to itself. All of the camera angles were pragmatic choices, but so far my professors have praised my "camera" placement instincts. And the "blurry" part was supposed to look like parts of the shot were out of focus.

7) Entertainment = 2? You make it sound like you hated it with that sort of rating. Did it score so low because I avoided references to other anime that most people wouldn't understand and would most certainly be confusing to almost everyone in about 10+ years? I'm not fond of pop culture references because it immediately dates your story.

8) Understandable. You could've commented on the sound mix. If you want to hear the music, go to freeplaymusic.com and search for the tracks listed in the end credits. If you REALLY want, I could point out which track was used where. But I'm only doing that if someone asks.

9) Yep, I'm a stickler for the old school, hand-drawn style.

10) Again, I don't like pop culture references because many people won't understand them in the present, and they most certainly won't understand after enough time has passed.

Thanks for your comments.

Post has been edited 1 time(s), last time on Dec 15 2007, 1:26 pm by Doodan.

I'd love to see you do that.

Great job Doodan, when I watched your movie, the style almost reminded me of the animation short, adventure time (It's not anime, but some of the animating techniques used are similar). Pity that Sundance didn't accept your animation, but look on the bright side, you now have a piece to stash into your portfolio.

Anyways, apart from the deleted posts are you working on part 3? I just need to see the ending.

Post has been edited 1 time(s), last time on Dec 15 2007, 9:13 pm by Mini Moose 2707.

Yeah, the topic is properly dealt with by deleting most of your posts, JordanN.
And a few of Syphon's.
And even HolySin's.

Let's stay on topic, people.

Aw, I missed the posts. ;p

I do have a lot more story ideas in mind for the 'MTG' characters, but I will not be animating any more movies by myself. I hope that it gets picked up by a TV network or a movie studio.

Thank God all mighty.

So as I promised I will draw the characters. Yesterday I managed to cram in Jacob and the pencil in but I couldnt draw Sycro because I wanted to work on my math homework. I can draw him later today but anyways here they are.
I drew these free hand and not traced. If I traced it then of course it would look the same.





Also when I was drawing Jacob for some reason I did something to the eyes that made him look like Trunks Jr. Ah well. Also I suck when it comes to drawing anime-like hands so you'll notice an oddity.

God, you guys are spammy.

And uh, interesting take on my characters, Jordan.

Fix'D!

Why thank ya. It's what I do.

When you possess the majority of posts in a topic that are basically viewed as retarded by everybody else, then yes my dear, you are a spammer.

Good job on making the grade, I liked it. Not many people make their own anime

Anyway have you looked into macromedia flash yet? D:

Nope. ;p

Currently, I'm not planning to continue animating. But if I do, I will be looking into flash.

It's not anime but an anime-influenced cartoon. That's because it didn't originate in Japan.

Also, instead of flash why don't you use Toonboom. It's a canadian animation software company that makes animation easier but smoother too. (If done right of course.)
Toonboom link

And heres some old time anime that you can look on for when you would be working on your next animation or so.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WyGvGMa2RFg&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bDSnFedr2fo&mode=related&search=
(It's a shame for the last video there aren't much good quality ones because the Americans had burned down the cities that had them.)

I demand a making the grade part 3 .