My Family
Todd, Mom, and Shaun
My family has pretty much dwindled down to me, my two sons, and several cats. Mom passed over to the other side almost seven years ago this June, Dad three weeks before I was born. I have two siblings who have taken their life paths in another direction from mine so I am not even sure where they are. With the exception of a couple of close friends and the two joys of my life, Shaun and Todd, everyone else is gone.
My first born son…
Shaun is my oldest son, soon to reach the quite adult age of thirty this summer. He is a Cancer born on Disneyland’s birthday so naturally we expected exciting things for him. He has had a few of those days, but not enough for a mom who wants to see her son live out his dreams (at least not yet).
Shaun someday flying high!
Shaun was the kid you would buy a camera, but he would never use it. You know you bought him the easiest point and shoot so that picture taking wouldn’t be difficult for him. As high school began, Shaun became interested in the art of green screen effects. Unfortunately for him the only person who might be able to teach him was the photography teacher. He took three years of still photography only to have to learn these effects on his own. Shaun truly amazes me still that he knows how to proficiently use not only a 35mm camera, but digital and movie cameras alike.
Shaun as photographer for charity.
His next challenge was to find a school to teach him more of what he wanted to know about visual effects. The Art Institute of Phoenix was just opening when Shaun finished his sophomore year in high school. The closest degree they had at the time was a degree in animation. Shaun was really interested in the school and took advantage of both summer programs offered to high school students to learn more about the school. By the time he enrolled at AI, they were quite familiar with him and his abilities. Shaun has always been a little “outside of the box” so with both his AA and bachelor’s degrees he produced portfolio reels that were not pure animation. Along the road, he decided to incorporate live action film with animation. Although this had been done in the movies for years (not to the extent it is now), it was not yet being taught.
Working with Green Screen
Shaun’s first attempt at incorporating live action with animation was his short film known as Chupacabra. The school had a green screen in the studio and Shaun was determined to use it. Here are some examples from his reel. The animation is rough, but this was ten years ago. There have been many advances in programs and teaching since then.
Actors working in front of green screen.
Entering the crypt.
With and without props.
Inside the crypt is the mummy.
Without background animation.
Background animation composited in.
3D animation of the mummy.
The movie poster
Atlantis 2032 was the second attempt at compositing for Shaun. Needless to say The Art Institute was not exactly on board with mixing the degree programs this way for his Bachelor’s degree, but Shaun forged onward. In hindsight, the acting was laughable and the scenes could have used a higher end compositing program, but unfortunately he could only work with what was available to him at the time. These are shots of the in studio filming of Atlantis 2032.
Brad and Nancy learning their lines.
Going over the storyboards.
Shaun, the director, discussing the story.
Scene from the film.
Gary Goldman and Don Bluth of "An American Tail" with Shaun
The most recent short film that Shaun created was based on a story about WWII called The Journal. It was an entry into the Mark Burnett/Steven Spielberg series, On the Lot. Although Shaun never even placed in this contest, he did learn what he was capable of doing with little money or time. It also helped him network with other filmmakers by using Myspace and YouTube to promote his work. Being a filmmaker is Shaun’s dream even though he has taken the winding path to get there. Hopefully someday he will reach his goal. Here is a link to his film starring his brother, Todd -
The second son…
Todd in Ghostbuster Uniform
Todd is my graphic designer son. Much of this blog is devoted to him and his interest in costume making. Without him, this blog would have never materialized. Although he doesn’t draw freehand much anymore, here are some of his earlier drawings.
Self portrait done in high school
Drawing of Rob Zombie
Drawing of Jim Carrey
Art Institute project
Todd on occasion gets the bug to want to produce a small film. This interest started back in high school. A couple of years ago when Heinz ran a contest for a commercial, Todd jumped to the challenge. It was a good experience for him and gave him a chance to work with his brother again on another film.
Todd and Shaun discussing set-up.
Checking the monitor
What is the best way to film this shot?
Some of the shots were filmmed at Shaun’s house and the rest on location with Todd’s friend Mitch. Here is the completed commercial.
I need to say how incredibly creative I have found Todd becoming in the last couple of years. He has really gotten into prop making because he likes to build things with his hands. Todd has a great eye for detail (as does Shaun) and spends hours researching the particulars of every project he intends to build. Some of his work can be found in this blog under the category, “Props.” This is the latest prop that Todd has been working on for his Ghostbuster fan group. He also did a calandar page for the Ghostbuster Fans website.
Proton pack in progress
For GB Fans 2009 Calandar
