so much reading

now i find out other than LLC, we have S corporation and C corporation....

and apparently there's a difference on where you registered your business... and for the East Coast, Delaware is the popular business registering state cuz they made paying taxes and other things easy.

And apparently i was thinking too deep for a business company name... I need to go simple.

I hope he's right.

Allan Neuwirth, the author of www.chelseaboys.com/ and wrote "Making toons" came to our class on invitation a few weeks ago, (the guy who practically knows everyone in the industry, from Disney people, cartoon network, to many other TV productons...

said to me (and the class) that I will be successful because I stop at nothing.

I hope he's right, because.... I plan to make my own pilot episode from my manga once I graduate.
22 mins film, first one will be a redo of the first chapter of Edepth, I will probably do the storyboarding before i graduate,
and start searching for more actors.

second 22 mins film will be a short story extracted from 2Masters, (hopefully i can just get by with 11 mins)
third 22 min short will be based on Mystic Shenshu,
and I am planning to make my own pilot for each of them, whenever possible.
I am guessing 2-3 years each?? (without professional budget and help)
But hopefully when I finished Edepth's film, i will already have a real budget and team...
so i don't have to take 2-3 years to make another film... OTL
A production seems to manage this way:
a team of 20-40 makes one episode, for 1 year, so a team can make 3 episodes in 3 years,
then X10, 200 people working 3-4 years can make about 13 episodes, which is the usual first season of any TV shows. (of course, before that we have the screening, the testing and a lot of gates to pass)

I know there's no way one person can make a TV series on their own, so I will just make my own pilot. At least I know short film I can do. Even if no one used it, I will have no regret that I have made my own dream come true, at least bits and pieces of it.


I don't know how long they will actually take to make.... but i know crazy seniors in our school can make a 10 minute 2D film in a year or two, most of them without any help. My thesis will be around 5 min, so it's about 4 times the size of my thesis....

OK, I will attempt it. Maybe I can do it.
Post them on youtube and around the animation based community, enter them into film fest whatever....
but i really am not into so much promo work... sigh.

My current third year film is already beyond me, but i am happy with the challenge.
I am already recruiting and asking for help around town.

Gosh, I am addicted to film making. lol


來到我們課堂上的一位作家說過, 我會是個成功的人,因為我不會停止往前, 我希望他是對的...
因為我打算開始製作自己的電視卡通動畫系列. 22分鐘...是我畢業作的4倍, 現在我做的長度的10倍....
有好幾個畢業生都一年內做到10分鐘,所以我因該也是可以做到的.
自己製作一個系列是不可能的, (會太久) 但是我至少能自己做一集樣本. 就算沒人採用也沒關係,
反正做出來了,我自己的夢想也出現結晶.

就做做看吧. 畢業前就開始打E-涯的第一集草稿...再來做天地和神書的,各做一集.
一集自己做的話都要2-3年八~
已經開始抓朋友來幫忙了~笑.

但是簡單得說回來~我是迷上做動畫了~畢業後也不想停~

"Have fun"

Niel talked about it in the recent comment, and mentioned while working at all these, the most important thing is to have fun.

I thought about it, here's what I think, after running a webcomic for more than 4 years non-stop, published 4 books on my own, making films for 3 years, doing 3 part time jobs, starting online studio, going to conventions and running several sites...

In the beginning, having fun is important, because from fun you build the passion, but later in development... when you have made a name for yourself, a brand of your own, jobs coming in, demands getting high, "Fun" is simply something you try to keep to keep you sane. The one thing that gets me going, is what other professionals will call "Love"

Fun is important, it gets you into the game, but when you get to do this for a living, you need more than "fun" to support your reason, you need "love."
An undying passion for what you do.

"Fun" is what makes hobbyist, "Love" is what makes great professionals.

(I say great professionals because some pro do lose the love and do it for money, but I believe deep down they still have some love to it, that's why they are still in it, if you really hate it, you would be depressed while doing it.)


If you only want to be with a person when it's fun together, that's not love. It's only child-like friendships, which is pure, but it may not always last.

But if you can tolerate the person even when they give you pain, and pull through a relationship together, that's love.


The love for the medium, the love for the expression, and the love for working with others; even when you are in a tight deadline and situation, you suddenly don't want to do anything you normally do, you hit the wall in the production, that cliff in the middle, that up hill battle, you will still keep pushing yourself forward to get over it, to deliver things on time, keep the discipline no matter what happens, that's when you become a true pro. A person other people can count on to get things done no matter how you feel. That's the discipline of love all other pros are looking for, that's what get a person out there, talent comes second.


But of course, with all that being said, I will still say "Have fun" while you are doing it. Fun keeps the fuel.

------

我的配音員告訴我"忙著做這些事之中,最重要的是fun (樂趣,享受玩樂)"
我分享一下我的想法....

樂趣...是建立一個人的對作品"愛"的基礎, 先有了樂趣才有愛.
但是一旦開始正式職業式的做這種工作, 樂趣和玩樂變成是你保持自己不發瘋抓狂的工具, 但是"愛"使你一直做下去.

樂趣是業餘的開始,愛是創造真正優秀職業藝術家的原料

我說優秀是因為有人做這行不是為了愛,而真的是為了錢,可是我相信大家做這行的都有點愛,因為沒愛會做不下去的.

如果一個人只是因為好玩想和朋友再一起,那是童真,不是愛. 童真的很純潔的東西,但是不一定會長存.

但是如果就算那個人給你痛苦,你還是能夠包容,努力一起度過,那才是真愛.



愛著這個職業,這種表達方式,愛與別人一起工作,愛分享自己的作品...

愛是那個讓你在工作很忙綠,快被逼瘋的感覺下繼續進行的成分, 在你做到不想再做了,還是為逼你自己往前進的東西. 是讓你不管怎樣都能把該做的工作做完的意識和修練.
是讓別人能夠信任你會把該做的事情做好的基本. 所有的職業藝術家要提拔人才的時候,看的就是這點, 才幹還是第二.

10 years from now

Looking at all these sites popping up trying to do business with the webcomic artists who are out there... the competition that's starting to boil warmer and warmer.

Webcomic is an industry where you can be happily updating your comic when you wanted, or be as competitive as the top 10s updating every week, some almost everyday to keep the traffic and hope to earn that bacon.

After reading http://floatinglightbulb.blogspot.com/2008/11/limits-to-webcomic-success.html
shared by on her blog, I recall just 4 years ago, I joined the race without knowing it's already started.

Now while I am concerned about keeping Edepth popular to bring home bacon, (yeah, seriously, Edepth is bringing home some bacon now) even though it's not enough to live on it, it's a start.

I can only imagine what kind of day it will be like, 10 years from now, all the webcomic artists already know each other in the top circles, from online, conventions and so on.... and each one of us become the oldie, of this emerging industry....

Still can't believe it's starting to be an industry now.... wow.

Seriously... everyone started out as hobblists, no one expected to be living on this. Now this has turned into campaigns, I have to develop marketing stragtegy, think about how to cut costs, watch stats like a stock broker, think of how to speed up the production, how to reprogram my site so i can generate more profits, on and on. It's a business now....

I am doing all these, but if I think about it, it's still quite new to me, and part of me is still in disbelief how fast all these are growing.

到現在還是不敢相信網路漫發展的這麼快,4年前,我開始只是好玩而已,現在則是幾乎像玩股票的人每天調查行情,拜訪人數,想著如何增加收入,減少支出,作品要怎麼賣才賣的較好,每部作品都要有銷售計畫,網站要怎麼重新設計來賺更多錢,等等

真的是個生意了,自己雖然在做,但是心裡還是很難相信,或是適應巴...想想...10年以後,我們這些網路上的人都會是老手了... 上半圈的還都會彼此認識...那是什麼景象阿?

E-涯天使有開始給我麵包了,錢就算賺的不夠多,也是個開始,其實自己也沒想到自己實習性的作品能有帶給我麵包的能力.

今天讀到報紙上說我是屬於HEIDI族的...High Educated, Independent, Degree-carrying Individuals. 笑

pictures

As promised to some, pictures. :)

I still need to do my hair, buy more decorations and take care of my skin, whiten my teeth...

Yeah, it's a lot of work trying to be my character. lol

衣服到了~~照約定的照片~ <3

還有很多工作要做,頭髮髮飾還需要購買的零件,皮膚要保養,牙齒要保養...等等
真花精力和錢...笑

不過這下我媽可以享受替女兒打扮的快樂了?

Jeremy's voice actor is official!

http://mayshing.com/jeremyauditionsamp.mp3

Yep, Niel is it! He's Jeremy's voice!
I'm excited about this, from the bottom of my heart. XD

For an audition, this is near perfect the way I wanted it. I'm glad to be teamed up with a gem, hopefully we can grow together to become a solid team.

找到耶利米的配音員~打從內心真的很興奮.
希望將來有希望可以一起成長成為正式的職業組員.

Sick

Worked on my pitch book.... (The pic is WIP)

For a period of time I was quite depressed about having any sort of hope for pitching for a show. (especially after hearing what kind of list the TV broadcasters wanted....)

But after I see more stories, success stories of Avatar and Boonducks, I have some hope.
I will put my best effort I can afford now to this pitch book, hopefully someday it can get picked up, and Edepth may have a TV show.

I have hardly any time to do new art, but I have plenty of Manga art i can use from the last 4 years which is great. lol~

Er, yeah, Fall flue season got the better of me, I dry cough, had some headache, but overall I am fine after 2 days of rest. I skipped one more animation class to get things done. :P

生病了,秋季的流行感冒終於逮到我了~ XP 乾咳,頭痛...不過休息了兩天好多了.

E-涯天使TV策畫投稿書還在製作中,原本有點對被採用的可能沒有信心,但是看到其他一些成功的故事,想想也許還是要認真的做,搞不好哪天會有機會八.

Shopping for voice actors

I am getting my friend Kuang to do Angel's voice, I think she has the voice quality I am looking for even in her natural voice:
http://existentialrose.voices.com/ (A naturally sweet, soft voice with a lot of heart and sensitivity, and the ability to act hyper, my ideal voice for Angel... she's now doing the audiction for Angel's role over the net, I may have her test out Sharon's voice.)

And thanks to her showing me her reel, now I have shopped a list of male voices I think may fit for my other characters, I am trying to look up voice actors with less experience (so it's a better match with this inexperienced and poor director) but offers a good sensibility.

Candidates:
1. Jeremy: http://niel.voices.com/ (a perfect match to what I am looking for in his natural voice, not much to his other characters. I feel his performance is at times over-act, but overall fairly good self-learner who tries hard, looks like a good match for my projects, he maybe able to handle Randy's voice as well.)

2. Chris: http://bryanschmidt.voices.com/ ( Anime' Narration - Bryan Schmidt has more of the voice quality I was looking for in Chris, but that voice is not the dead on for him either... I picture him with a rougher, even deeper tone, but that can be easily adjusted with a few tests. The biggest problem however, is that this guy is already a pro...... no idea whether he would be interested in working with a newbie director, and I can't afford much to the professional rate, but I may try my luck.)

3. Randy: http://louzucaro.voices.com/ (this guy has the closest range to what I wanted for Randy, I think I hear a dead-on Randy's voice for a few seconds, it can be communicated, goofy voices at times, all over the place and full of energy, but he's already a pro too, so I may just use him for sample if his rates is too high.)


Future ones to find: (needed more urgently later)
Voice for Isaac, (a girl maybe?) Mosa, Rose.

Whale Wars

Animal planet certainly captured my attention with this new series, "Whale Wars"
A group of activists causing trouble at the dangerous high sea to stop Japanese from whaling, calling it Modern Piracy.
The most realistic action I have seen yet on documentary TV. XD I am so catching up to them next week.
I wonder what will happen to the issues with all these publicity.

In a way I do like trouble makers, as long as no one is killed for it.

環境保護人士和日本漁船衝突白熱化,現代海盜, 太刺激了~笑

Invest in a dream

I ordered this today: chinese clothing online

i have been thinking about it for 2 years now, since I am not growing younger, might as well~ :P *slap down 200 dollars*
Now cross my fingers and hope this shipment works out well for me~

今天砸下200美金買了這個~ :P 人一生只年輕一次~XD 穿這去販賣會會很好~

OMg someone shut him up!

Trailer:





Today we SVA students get to have a special screening "Coraline" at the Theatre in Union Square, NYC.
The new stop motion animation is nothing less than ground breaking,
from the director of "The nightmare before Christmas" and "James and the Giant Peach", Henry Selick.

We got to be in the same room with these industry legends doing Q and A after the 30 min screening,
and one idiot freshman had to ask "Why did you pick a similar style to Nightmare before Christmas to do Coraline? ...That Gothic theme seems to go from one film to the other."

I can tell the director and the crew members were puzzled by it, and almost don't want to answer... but they answered nicely "Art is in the eyes of the beholder, but I think there's nothing similar between Coraline and Nightmare before Christmas..."

That's right!
There's nothing similar to Coraline compare to Nightmare before Christmas, the character designs are different, the color palettes are different, the story telling is different, the techniques are different. The only thing the same would be it's a kid-tale that has some darkness to it with the same director!

I can't believe an SVA student asked that question, and further more he wouldn't stop and think and shut up.
All of us were sooooo embarrassed by that one stupid question! (Ideally no question is too stupid to ask, but this one sure sounds like one!) Wasting all of our time! A good 5 minutes!
Other people could have asked better questions!


Thoughts were racing in my mind, "Someone shut this stupid guy up!"

One stop motion major senior was so angry about it afterwards saying he should have gotten beat up for it.

(On the note, some of our stop motion people did ask very very good technical questions, like how to animate doll hair, it turns out their secret is to put wire into the clumps of hair in the main character; the details to the fabrics- they hired some nutty knitter for the clothes, and all patterns on clothes are hand printed, designed, wired differently.... constructions-they used about 400 expressions for Caroline alone, 600 mouse dolls, and 40+ dolls for Caroline; and kids from NYU did ask some good script writing questions, like how to adopt a screen play from a book, what are the challenges etc.

The director mentioned something interesting about adopting a screen play from a book:
"A movie is a movie, a book is a book. When a movie is too true to the book, it doesn't work. My suggestion is... if you need to adopt a script from a book, don't talk to its writer for the first year..... the better the book, the harder it is to adopt it into screen play...... there's nothing different from writing a screen play for live action compare to animation."

A stop motion student asked whether it was a pain to get investors to let them do stop motion since CG is the trend right now, boy, did they have an reaction. lol~ Apparently, those investors were not easy to deal with.


I stayed after with some of my stop motion classmates and my friend Jackie to listen to more talks from those pros, it was a very exciting time. We got to leave our contacts with them, and saw them pack away their dolls. lol


I'm excited by this film, I will go see it when it comes out next year in Theatre. 2009, Feb.