Cirrocco

After reading a bit further at the top...I work on Sundays, so I won't be able to make it. Sorry.

Well, I live just south of Oakland, CA. It's a bit far to drive to Modesto, at least on a regular basis. It would be nice to get together with others to learn more about AM. The book is nice, and sparse. I really have much to learn and would appreciate being with others. Any lists of when/where meetings are?

You know, maybe I *SHOULD* take a look at those restrictions. I've never actually seen them for myself. Well, here's hoping you get famous anyway!

HARDY HAR HAR! I didn't see that one coming! I love the characterization, and the sound is just perfect! Nice set up with the classical music, then the sucker punch with the lip-fiddling and the text! Thanks for sharing that with us! That brought a smile to my face!

Nice! A good, solid standard background for animation. How long did it take you to model this? On a scale of 1-10, 1 being easy as cliicking a few mouse buttons, 10 being harder than modelling a millipede one leg at a time, how hard would you say it was? Congratulations! I'm a newbie, too, and I'm looking forward to my first model and animation. Well, okay, I've already done the Can-Can excercise, but that's a little too easy. Right now I'm working on the It's A Pitch excercise, and I think I'm going to have to add an extra bone to the leg to get that left leg to lift up. I can't seem to manage it. Anyway, great job! Nice lighting, good texture!

I watched the film, and it does ROCK! That's awesome! I can see why it took two years. You put a LOT into that film, and, really, if you can take out the non-Star Wars sound (e.g. Terminator, Star Trek) it really should be submitted to the Fan Film Awards. The deadline is June 15. I would submit my own entry but I, too, used some non-SW music and I can't really extract it and replace it with something appropriate that is SW. Jane's Addiction and John Williams are just too disparate. Anyway, I REALLY like the opening scroll! That's such a tough thing to duplicate. I have a friend who has been doing fan films for a while now and he still hasn't figured it out in After Effects. I'll have to show him how to do it in Premiere. I noticed that you 'blended' the sound to shorten the opening scroll. Very innovative. That 1 minute and 25 seconds is really an eternity! (Yes, I know the length is actually 1 m 24.5 seconds, but I'm rounding, okay? ) You might want to let the words fade out a little deeper in the background. Also, the opening STAR WARS logo fades out completely before the scroll starts. Nitpicky, I know, but the extra 5 or 6 seconds it takes will really give it that Star Wars flavor and make it feel like it isn't quite so rushed. On sound: the music and the action sounds were A-W-E-S-O-M-E! They were really clear, well placed (like the panning of the sound of the starship going by) and LOUD just like action sounds should be! There was no crackle, the crackle that for some reason creeps in during editing, especially on modified sound files. Alack and alas, though, the Enemy of the Sound Mixer is always actors who can't project their voice or are encumbered by masks. You have a choice there: putting a microphone on a boom (and risking boom shadow), having actors speak their lines loudly (and risk ruining the drama of the scene), or doing dialog replacement and risk having the sound be out of joint. The first option can be mitigated with either a wireless microphone or lighting, both of which can get expensive, FAST! The second choice is a matter of director's choice and timing. The third option has a really nifty gimmick that a friend taught me: ambient noise. When doing dialog replacement you're often in a sound-controlled room, even if it's just your den with the door closed and the mini-fridge turned off. Your actors, though, are often right in front of the microphone and so the dialog will come out nice and clean and clear, with little or no ambient noise. Thus, what you do when you're filming a scene where you're sure you'll be doing ADR is you take a few moments to record some ambient noise, nobody talking, nothing in the background, etc. and just loop it in your sound track while piecing it together. This way, your dialog always sounds like an original recording. Getting actors to sync their dialog perfectly, though, can be a trick unto itself. BE PATIENT! It always takes more than one take to get it right, and can sometimes take 20, 30, or more! The results, though, are worth it when your dialog is loud and clear, so the exposition and plot points can be easily understood. I'll have to watch it again to catch the plot. I got a call in the middle of watching it and it confused me for a bit, especially where the Assassin was being held up by the guy he shot, the Merchant? Anyway, the action is awesome, and I can't believe the lengths you went to to get Boba Fett in your picture! I guess I'm spoiled, with three different legions of the 501st and so many costuming groups in my area. Kudos on the film!

HA! I just bought Hash yesterday at Wondercon, a comic book convention that's held in the San Francisco Bay Area every year. I was with the East Bay Star Wars Fan Club and we were showing our fan film and generally promoting the club. During a break from the table I wandered past Jim "Andrew Supina" Hash doing the demonstration thing. I stayed and watched, and I was VERY impressed at the ease and speed of the things he was doing with Hash. I thought, "You know, maybe I should give this program a look. I need SW props for my movies: X-Wings, TIE fighters, etc." I told him that if he could model my lightsaber on the spot that I would buy the program. Sure enough, in about ten minutes he had modeled a 3D version of the lightsaber I was carrying with me. I bought the program, then told them I was doing it to model X-Wings and the like. That's when they told me that I could download the pre-made models off the website. I just installed it not 30 minutes ago and then I spot this post. Alien_Films, rock on! I look forward to seeing you at the Fan Film awards! Okay, going to download your movie now...