This Blog...Brainstorms
- Monday, 30 August 2010 16:11
- Last Updated on Monday, 29 November 1999 18:00
- Written by PeoriaRick
This Blog…Brainstorms...
by PeoriaRickHopefully, this journey into the Wonderful Land of Blogs will be as fun for me as it will be for you. I have been asked to provide video and pictures of my work and anything related to the blog’s theme for the day…those should start soon. I'm still transferring my stuff from VHS (does that still exist?) to my laptop.
One of the things that I don’t want this blog to become is a monologue. I hope to get feedback and most importantly I love brainstorming to find ways to work in our craft. Because when it all boils down to it, that’s really the goal of so many of us who visit this site and other sites like it, isn’t it? And let's have fun with the feedback, too. I don't want the feedback to get personal. I think we've all seen those kinds of blogs before. Let's keep this one focused on finding work and sharing ideas.
How does one go about creating an opportunity to work in stop-motion animation? Do we wait for a studio to post an ad and then we flood their mailboxes with demo reels and queries? I had a door open slightly and then quickly close a few years ago and I don’t even know if the studio exists anymore.
Or do we just do our own thing and find a way to make our films at home. Maybe your studio is in the basement or in the dining room where there is the possibility that it will get shut down during the Thanksgiving/Christmas holidays or the impending kitchen/dining room remodel…yikes!!! We do have to start somewhere...but where or how do we want to grow from there?
One of the ideas that I have came while my wife and I were on vacation in Tennessee, near the Cumberland Gap. There is a huge building called the Cumberland County Playhouse that has four theaters. So, I started thinking about a, kind-of, stop-motion studio co-op...three studios under one roof where animators get together and work on each others’ projects.
Then what do you do when you finish? I was told that direct-to-video is dead? Is that true? How do you sell your work in order to do more? Once again...brainstorms.
And where is the “hub” of stop-motion animation? California and New York seem to be the center of traditional and computer animation…but what about us? Personally and selfishly, I would like to see Peoria, Illinois as the hub. Why, you might ask…well, for one reason, it’s where I live which would make it really convenient and second, we have so much community theater which means local actors; which then means character actors, so character voices would be plentiful.
Hey, if Big Idea/ Veggie Tales were once able to establish a studio in Lombard, Illinois, then anything can happen in the Midwest. We're not that far away from Chicago, which used to be a silent movie hub. And keep in mind, Aardman is in Bristol and not in London. What I'm saying is that we don't have to hunker down in a big city. As John Mellencamp once sang..." I can breathe in a small town". So, I say, why not Peoria? Being in the middle of the country means not being eaten up by Hollywood either.
Big Idea could be the great template to follow. Granted they had a huge fall, but we can learn from what worked and what didn’t.
Then….if only I could get Bobby McFerrin to move here. I would hire him to do all of my background music and…...okay, so maybe now I’m dreaming but have you heard his version of the Pink Panther theme?
So, don’t worry folks, pictures and videos are coming….and hopefully we can brainstorm our way into a new wave of a stop-motion animation renaissance.
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