MAKING HERMAN
Latest entry: Entry 32,
Friday August 12, 2005
Entry 31. By David,
Sunday May 1, 2005
So the music video's done, and viewable here.
With any luck you'll be seeing it on RAGE
one of these days...
At the moment I'm working on the "Herman" documentary
I referred to waaay back here.
Since the actual story of the making of "Herman"
is quite boring (and if you're reading this, you would know),
it will be full of lies and make-believe, but will be entertaining,
at least for the five minutes (?) it runs, and at least for
the people involved.
Meanwhile, the film itself is getting around a bit -- FINALLY
it's been accepted to an Australian festival, the Revelation
Film Festival in Perth. In addition to this, it's
just been featured in the International Showcase (I think
this means it's available for viewing by international TV
programmers/buyers) of Cartoons
On The Bay in Italy, and will soon screen at the
Trenton
(NJ, USA) and Filmstock
(Luton, UK) film festivals.
Having entered shitloads of festivals in the last eight months
or so, and having been knocked back by the vast majority of
them, I've started to get a feel for which ones are worth
entering. The fests that have shown "Herman" have
so far been almost entirely "independent" ones,
fests run by people who stress their love of movies (as opposed
to FILMS) and tend to program older movies, cult classics
and "genre" stuff alongside the new shorts and features.
"Herman" has not had much (any) success with "serious"
film festivals, i.e. the prestigious, artistic ones, and the
ones geared towards "getting YOUR film in front of the
EYES of important FILM INDUSTRY PEOPLES!!!".
I guess this is what it means to "know your audience".
In "Herman"'s case, the audience is geeks who like
watching movies and being entertained. So -- people like me.
This makes good sense and I wish I'd realised it before I
sent off that $50 entry to the Cockspank International Film
Festival in Wankislaw, Europe.
And that's another thing -- it hasn't been accepted anywhere
outside of the US and UK. Well, of course it hasn't. It's
a long film full of talkiness and Western (and even some made-up)
slang and would be a shit to subtitle (I know this, I've had
to subtitle it myself for the DVD).
And finally, it's long! 22 minutes is a long short film,
and don't I know it. This is probably the biggest mark against
it (unless you count being fairly silly as a failing). It
may not fit comfortably in a "shorts program", or
animation anthology, being that festivals tend to like to
program lots of little five-minute films. I knew the length
would be a problem when I started on this thing, but I chose
to ignore this, apparently to the film's commercial detriment
(if not its quality).
But now that I "KNOW MY AUDIENCE", I can at least
cut back on the number of wasted submissions and try to send
it mostly to festivals where I know it has a shot at being
shown. Live and learn.
And now, a quick rundown on what some people involved in
"Herman" are up to now:
-
ADAM
WAJNBERG (Chuck) is still studying Screenwriting
at RMIT and is coasting on the success he and I seem to
be having with our wonderful new film "Badlands"
(proving for certain that festivals will show any shite
as long as it's short). Look for it at the Sydney Film
Festival this year (seriously)!
-
KATRINA
MATHERS (Sabrina) has a new film called Meta4
in the St Kilda Film Festival's Siemens MicroMovie film
competition. It's strange and amusing and has plasticine
animated violence in it -- always a good idea.
-
ADRIAN
CALEAR (Lt. Angryman) directed SCOTT
POLLARD's (Chief Model Maker) latest triumphant
season of "The Super Happy Robot Hour" at the
Melbourne International Comedy Festival.
-
THOMAS
PULLAR (Grand Dragon of the KKK, Dr Solaris)
is now working with JIM
KALOGIRATOS (Schiff, The Legal Bulldog) at
Act
3 Animation. They are both deliriously happy.
-
J.D.
SALINGER (Herman, The Legal Labrador) went
Section Eight and left the military. He finally had a
story accepted for publication by the New Yorker in the
late '40s. Following this, he became a recluse, and now
earns a living ghostwriting love letters for lonelyhearts.
-
LENNY
VOLKOV (Score) is now working at a men's fertility
clinic, helping his brethren get their penises hard. Godspeed
ye, cock emperor.
-
METZENGERSTEIN
(Score) are having yet another "break" period
since JESSE's
gone to Canada (possibly in search of the mighty BIGFOOT).
Hopefully there will be reason to awaken the slumbering
beast (the band, not Bigfoot) soon.
-
As for myself, I'm continuing to write and draw silly
things, including an exciting new cartoon called "Glorial's
Pumpkin Breath And Grandma". I'm working on pitches
for a couple of proposed animated series. And later this
year I'll be working on storyboards for a new animated
kids show, made by the
people who did "Quads"...
And, in response to a challenge on pulpfaction.net,
here's a picture of me as a Simpsons character:
Entry 32. By David,
Monday August 1, 2005
Above: You won't have seen explosive COP ACTION
until you've seen my all-new animated series: THE PRECINCT.
Currently just a pitch, a pilot script and a lot of little
sketches, but ready to go into production as soon as you give
me money to go hire Vince Colosimo for the part of Balanovis
(the sexy wog Lothario with a deadly secret), and maybe Eric
Bana for the part of Ackersley (the angry cop on the edge
with a deadly secret).
Meanwhile, in Herman-land: the SPECIAL EDITION DVD
is done and available
for purchase. I'm happy with it. It's got just
enough extra stuff to make you go, "Oo, it's got extra
stuff", and not quite enough to make you say, "He
could've left this off, really".
Herman has gone and won some film festival awards!
The film received TWO awards (an Audience Award and Director's
Award) at Filmstock,
in Luton, and then picked up Best Animated Short at the Melbourne
Underground Film Festival! Score!
I'm comics co-ordinator at this year's National
Young Writers Festival and have organised a few
comics/animation-related forums and events, including a return
of the Comics
to Animation screening that played very well at
NYWF '04 and at Cinema Nova a month or so back.
Meet Herman Associate Producers Larry Boxshall and
Ben Hellwig! (no photos yet)
Larry and Ben are not credited as such in the film itself.
Why? Because they got their titles by performing a very special
service for the film AFTER its completion: presenting it to
a rapturous (?) audience at the 2005 San
Diego Comic-Con!
The Comic-Con's Independent Film Festival picked Herman
to close their Sunday animation session. However, their rules
require that a member of the production team be present for
the screening so they might say a few words and answer questions.
Unfortunately, prior commitments (and, yes, the fact that
a last-minute plane ticket to the States costs mucho, mucho
dinero) meant I couldn't go.
Thankfully, these two stalwart gentlemen, who knew me best
as the cartoonist guy who comes into their comic shop and
never buys anything, agreed to take some time out of their
San Diego Con experience to be the film's "Associate
Producers", and, reportedly, did a fine job at it. Their
Aussie accents put it over, and the free "Herman"
comics they gave out sealed the deal. Good work, fellas!
Upcoming Herman-inclusive film fests: Rhode
Island, Santa
Fe, Dragon*Con,
Port
City Animation Festival
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