We've only just begun - or - Where do I begin...

Or, rather - where should I re-begin, this task of updating that which exists in, and adding the third act to, "Gamera vs. All Mankind"? I have set myself the task of finishing it in time for an August / September 2007 release, to be viewed publicly at a local art film show. The final date is yet to be determined at this time, but as I was able to pull together the first two acts in 1 1/2 months last year gives me a good idea of what I can do in the upcoming four. Mind you, the first two are in a rough state, but pretty far along, and as there WON'T be any script changes with what has already been laid out (p-p-p-p-p-please!), I have much confidence. With a capital "C".

Them's that've seen it have been of mixed opinion as to the state of the digitized vocals - some say "yeah", some say "nay" - but all agree that they cannot be understood without the cliffnotes. This online primer exists not only to help one gain a better grasp on the myriad twists and turns of the complex plot, but they also make clear that which is sung, as these cliffnotes are also the complete script, sans third act.

Yes, the script is a necessity, and I thank my brother for always having the genius to intelligently entertain, and entertain well. Also, I would not have known what to compose/draw/animate had he not written this great script. As excited as I was to take on this fun challenge, my main reason to jump into the project was for the music, and along with appending the visual s, the music will be updated in the next couple of months with surprise vocal appearances from several friends in order to make things more presentable. Let's face reality here: not everyone who watches a 7 minute animation wants to read along with a script. I know, I've gathered that much feedback, at least.

Oh, music. Yes, music.

I do love to make music, and this blog being both my sounding board and concert auditorium, I wanted to present the non-vocalized versions of the animated compositions.

Yes, the music was a delight to compose. I started imagining the melody lines while at work with either my uke or melodica, depending on which I carried with me that day. Within a couple of days I had some pert near sketches down, and started laying them into Melody Assistant, all the while experimenting with the vocal features on this fine software - check out the above link, you'll probably like the software they make just fine. And it is French. And it is Inexpensive.

From the starting gate, "Opening Theme" and "Morimoto's News" were the first sketches out, but "Toshio's Lament" made it to the finish line first, barely pulling ahead of the "Opening Theme" around the last curve, and in the last 150 feet of the race. He will go next week to the finals at Steinway Fields (forever?).





"Takada's Toccata" came through next as a final composition, garnishing a spot in the Winner's Circle.




"Hasigawa and Rainbow Love Theme" got the bronze, but was (and still is) my favorite to win. Maybe the theme of "love" captured mine own heartstrings, as I composed it. Yes, I definitely put more of myself into this one. And then I had to clean up. Yuck.





To the rest? Later, alligator....

Sound Off - or - Hello Starkness, you Old Fiend...

Devoid of sound. My current state.

After successfully uploading my first audio file via box.net t'other night, I successfully went to bed.

In the morning I successfully woke up, and added to all things successful by eating breakfast, showering, and dressing.

Then unsuccessfullness slapped me right in the face. I switched on my lovely little computer, and it did not want to.

Letting go of the little things (had to get my hands free to drive), I went to work and had some more successesesess.

Upon returning home, I was able to get my lovely little precious back in line and online. However, there was a price: my sound card (an M-Audio Audiophile), CD drive and DVD drive are all non-functioning. Rather than try to slap-them-around and back into place (which usually resorts to me losing all functionality), I am playing it smart, but soundless, this weekend. Our workforce IT Specialist returns on Monday, and since he has helped me out of jams in the past, I plan on bringin in my beloved tower and see what he can do...this time.

I am using this opportunity to explore other possibilities for uploading and hosting my media files (can't create or edit them - but I can get them online!). This posting will contain the same file that I uploaded to box.net in the previous post, but this time it will be done through that wonderful internet archive. It may all sound the same to you, but for me it is a experiment worth wasting my time on (and if it does sound better to you, let me know).

check out the recording here: Big Blue Rubber Hands

Big Blue Rubber Hands

Well, well, well...

I finally got this setup through box.net. A quick, pain free sign-in later, and I have a free account, with 1GB of space for storage (and sharing, etc.).

I popped this out onto a voice mail (via google talk) to my bros Rik and Bean t'other night for to give a shout out and to see if they would bounce it back to me so's I could check out the quality and such. One came back a little better than they t'other, but they both got through rough and fuzzy, and that's how I like things to be sometimes.

Now there is no excuse, no more delays....

My Ol' lady has a big ol’ pair
Of blue rubber Hands
She doesn’t just use ‘em for
Washing the pots and pans

It’s nice that
She buyed em
Cuz it makes me glad
When across the kitchen floor and more
We start doing the dance

So put on your rubber gloves
And start scrubbin’

Yeah put on your blue rubber gloves
And start scrubbin’

It’s nice that
She buyed em
Cuz it makes me glad
When across the kitchen floor and more
We start doing the dance
When across the kitchen floor and more
We start doing the dance

My lady’s got a pair
Of fancy rubber gloves
They blue
And oh they do
A magic that they does






- Mark Otis

Music and Lyrics Copyright 2009 Mark Allen Johnson

Well, this is a long time in coming....

After my last (and first) post of September '06, I caught myself up in the whirlwind of animated movie design/direction/composition.

My brother politely asked me to help create a writer's block-breaking 3 act, 7 minute animated opera as a surprise b-day gift to a friend.

For those unaware souls (majority of the planet, I assume), the libretto and genuine-article rough draft is available on my brother Rik's blog. He twisted my arm (threats of the silent treatment do tend to work on me) and I relented to his demands. He's hosting it for now, as we work on finishing the third act (already written, sans a few changes), and I smooth out the animation. We are also looking to recruit friends to actually sing the vocals, replacing the digital voices from Melody Assistant, which were used to get the vocals sung in the initial pinch.

There was a deadline after all...

The link: http://cinema4spacelovers.com/gameravsallmankind.html

I have recorded a few of my songs as of late, and am looking for a fast way to get these playable from my blog. I am signing up for a gabcast.com free account, but have yet to receive my confirmation email. This same crap happened when I applied for a myspace account, which is why myspace is forever on my idiotic-free-web-services list. Forever.

Don't confirmation emails get sent out rather immediately these days?

Well, I should have it figured by this eve, in time to post something before Monday, when the work weekling starts..