Goodies and Gifts

    While recently browsing through my favorite Etsy artists, I gladly visited Dame Darcy's shop. Over the years this artist has been one of my biggest inspirations when it comes to the rare, yet intriguing genre of southern gothic. She is a talented, witchy, and a one of a kind artist who performs, illustrates, and sells incredible handmade goodies!

View DameDarcy.com today!

When I saw her 2016 Witch Calendar, I had to indulge...

    I was so excited when I purchased this gem, I decided to send a short heartfelt message to the Dame herself, just to say hi and remind her that her art is just as amazing as ever. I also thanked her for allowing my film crew and I to use her version of Down in Willow Garden, "Mercury Wine," in the credits of our film Avery Parrish Thieves. For more of her tracks, indulge here!

     Soon I received a response that made my heart leap! Dame Darcy was flattered and in turn shared both Avery Parrish Thieves and Séance on her social media sites, along with personally complimenting my work. As if I wasn't already feeling so flattered and happy, I became even more so when I received the witch calendar... along with an adorable gift...

There's nothing more rewarding than making great friends through great art. Cheers to all who agree, in the mean time, when it comes to Dame Darcy: Like, Follow, Read! 

Fat Tuesday?

Ok, so I know Mardi Gras was yesterday, but I've been busy, and in lots of pain from horrible dental experiences... a post all its own.

Halloween Movie Countdown: "The Skeleton Key"

I can't even think of where to begin! This film has become one of my all-time favorite thrillers over the years. It's not only scary, but it really embraces it's setting and theme and leaves you with one of the best surprise endings of all time.

This totally kept me on the edge of my seat when I first saw it, in fact it was the first really scary movie I saw in theaters, I used to be quite a scardy-cat...

Anyway, The Skeleton Key not only has great direction and an awesome look and feel, but it also has a really great story, definitely a must for Halloween time.

Click on the picture below to watch one of the best scenes in the film, it's really disturbing, but very well filmed... sends chills up my spine every time.

Here's the Trailer:

Vintage Seance: The Film

Well, what an adventure it has been. I first began brainstorming on a story idea about a year ago (one that I am still working on) inspired by the spiritualist movement, which took place during and after the turn of the century. During the spiring I finally came up with the idea to create a short film based on the theme, design, and some of the characters and events that took place in my original story. I simply wanted to make short and miniature version of the story idea I already had, but by telling this story through stop-animation. Because the style and theme for the story also happens to be the same style and theme of my blog, I decided that the short film should be an introduction to my blog, while also being a short little story. ( Here's when I first proposed the idea in a post way back.)

I began to storyboard based on some of the vital elements that I had in mind for this 'seance story' during the early spring. Finally as summer rolled around, I knew that it would be the best time to create this movie with the time I had. So basically, for the first two months I worked on the puppets, then finally the set and props. After this, I filmed for about four days and edited for two weeks. I had finally completed the film! Only three minutes and twenty seconds long, but even that was longer than I expected.

When I thought my technical difficulties were over (after having to re-edit about half of the film, animating clay faces that only began to crumble over time, etc...) I soon realized I was wrong. The music I chose for this film became disabled on YouTube after I uploaded the film. I spent days trying to fix the problem using all sorts of complicated computer methods, and it still wasn't working. I was so bummed because I was worried that I wouldn't be able to show it to very many people.

Turns out, after posting pictures I took of the puppets on my Flickr photostream (which I promise to post all over this blog very soon) I also included the YouTube link, even though I knew it wasn't going to be the complete film experience without the music. Lucky for me, the amazing Pumpkin Rot commented on one of my photos with a link that saved the day (or film, I should say). To say it simply, I got the audio back!

The music is actually from a Panic! at the Disco song (random, I know) but I could really visualize the story when I heard this portion of one of their songs. I did edit the portion to last three minutes and twenty seconds so it may not sound perfect. Also keep in mind, I am not a very experienced animator. I just knew that I wanted to make this film... so I did.

Hope you enjoy the final product! This version is still not the best quality, but it is certainly worth watching. Enjoy!

Here's the link to the film on my PumpkinKidFilm channel and here is a link to the film on my new VintageSeance channel (not very active... yet.)

Thanks again, Rot!

One must love the Dame!

Can't believe it's been a month since I have posted something on the blog, shows how busy I have been. I thought I'd post about someone whose art has been very influential to my own over the past few years, and that would be Dame Darcy. I may have only mentioned Dame Darcy a few times on my blog, so I think it's about time I do a proper post about her.

I first heard about Dame Darcy when a friend of mine read a copy of Jane Eyre illustrated by her. The artwork was so interesting that she decided to look her up and discovered some more of her artwork and music. My friend then introduced me to Dame Darcy's work, and I was inspired. I fell in love with her southern gothic influences and really liked how original she was, even if not all of her art was my cup of tea. Overall, I really enjoy the music, films, and illustrations she has done and thought I'd post a few links and samples.

Here is video I came across not long ago that was illustrated by her, the music by Rasputina:

Another video I love is one that inspired my Mercury Wine film: Golden Shoes and don't forget to check out her Etsy shop!