Injection: Enhancing my Skills

Image

As previously stated, Injection will throw me into some unfamiliar territory during production. I think it’s important for me to be thrown into such territory, as I know it’s the best way for me to learn. The fact that I have to look outside of the program for people with the proper skill sets and experience to help progress the overall project helps me get used to making my ideas a reality and network for the future. I want to run my own production company in the future and even registered the name and begun to do small jobs for a handful of clients. I believe this project will help me prepare for my post-graduation future in the sense that it’s reinforced my love of building something as small as an idea and turning it into something much bigger and tangible, making it a reality. Injection has forced me to not only take risks but also take initiative in getting my ideas out there and surprisingly I’ve gotten a lot of help or offers of aid from my friends and some complete strangers. I know I’m not the most organized person in the world but this project above all others is keeping me more so in check than ever before. I organize meetings, times to work on the project, paper work and script readings. I will be taking part in using the programs with my team from Photoshop to After Effects and Protools. Being the Director and independent on this project forces me to take part in all aspects of production and how to hone my skills in all these stages of production which makes me more valuable as an employee too. I have built an amazing team and sharing creative ideas is so fun! It makes the overall production a higher quality and better than ever before. A group’s creativity will forever be more powerful than just my own. I know when an idea is valuable and has potential to be something big and I believe Injection has the potential to be something more than a one shot school project and could even go on to do well as a web comic series or even something bigger and more interesting! I couldn’t be more excited about a project! In closing, here are some of the aspects I mentioned above as to why I think Injection will only enhance my skills and only aid me in future endeavors.

 

 

  • Take Risks
  • Asking for help
  • Taking Control
  • Organization
  • Building Trust, ideas, creativity
  • Use of programs from Photoshop to After Effects
  • Team Building
  • Teamwork

Image

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Influences to Injection

Creative influences are always an interesting phenomena as we are never entirely know when or how they’ve influenced us. There are times when we can fully comprehend or acknowledge we use these influences and there are other times where we don’t realize it unless we reflect on those experiences and realize how much they influenced our actions or Creativity. I’ve had interactions with individuals and mediums (forms of media) that have influenced me and continue to today!

Image

Terry Brooks: As a teenager, I had wanted to be an author of my own fictional world and Terry Brooks’ Shannara series was a major influence and motivator for me, especially his trilogy The Voyage of the Jerle Shannara. I looked up to Terry Brooks so much that I jumped at the opportunity to meet him during an event in Toronto which was one of the most unforgettable moments of my life. I got to ask him some of the influences to his creativity and quickly realized a lot of it stemmed from experiences he has. Image
After our delightful conversation about creative influences he signed my favourite book from my favourite series that reads “To Mike, Take Flight With Your Dreams.” It was at this moment I realized taking risks and trying new things, experiencing as much as I could would be my greatest influence to my creativity which stems into my next influence.

Image
People: Friends, family, acquaintances, enemies all these social interactions gives us something to feed off of. Separate personalities, perspectives and feeling in every walk of life. People inspire, motivate, hinder, discourage, influence the world around us, there’s a lot more power in the people we meet than we understand most of the time. Taking the time to understand, communicate and really see the world through others eyes allows us to borrow their attributes and apply them to not only our character but our world too.

Image
Animation Influences:

Japanese animation was a late influence in my life. I was introduced to it while living in Japan and fell in love with the stories and how there was no fear something could go too far. I was introduced to Evangelion, Hellsing, Death Note, Gundam, Full Metal Alchemist and of course Miyazaki films. All of these mediums are great but Miyazaki has the strongest sense of amazing creativity whilst still maintaining a real world message or value, as eccentric as his visuals and worlds are, you can tell he is also very grounded to the real world which is why so many of his stories are so enjoyable to the masses. I want to do that with injection. I want to create and amazing world whilst still reserving a specific, grounded message to the audience.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

BONUS! What’s the worst that can happen!?

This is more of my own personal blog, reflecting more on life than the project itself. What is the worst that can happen during the production of Injection? Any number of things could happen. The whole thing could fall apart due to issues with the artists or terrible implementation of the animation or it could go without a hitch too. Despite whatever happens it’s a risk I’m willing to take. You see the most frustrating thing about not taking a risk or chance to do something your passionate about is you are missing out on a vital journey that could take you places you never been before. Things always go wrong from time to time and no it’s never easy but people tend to forget they take risks every day and none of us will ever be sure when this life is taken for us. Here’s Mike’s guide to life, something I use to remind myself “What’s the worst that can happen!?” and I’m sure I’ll need to read it over and over during the production of Injection:

What is life to you? What is it’s meaning? How do you live your life? Here is a list as to how I live.

1.  Respect people – Treat people with respect and listen. People will in turn respect you and have your back when you need the help.

2. Dream big – You are never too young or old to have dreams and many of them at that. Live to follow your goals and dreams. It will bring you happiness.

3. Actions speak louder than words – So many people talk shit but have nothing to show for it. Prove yourself through example.

4. Try new things – Afraid to do something like skydiving or bungee jumping?Even to live on your own? Do it anyway! Your best memories are the ones where you do something outside of your comfort zone. Big or small you need to try something new regardless of how you feel.

5. Know and appreciate yourself – Learn as much as you can about yourself. Test yourself and do your best to conquer your own faults. Enjoy who you are and do your best to be what you want to become

6. Money is renewable resource – People use money as an excuse to not do something. It’s not that hard to get and if you TRULY want something in life,money shouldn’t be a roadblock, just a gravel road that makes it harder to travel extravagantly.

7. Excuses are pathetic – This is harsh but this mentality helps me make fewer excuses at least.

8. Be yourself – Regardless of what people consider ‘normal’, you need to just be yourself. People that are confident in themselves shine and attract other people. Remember normal is just another word for someone who is faceless and boring. Someone who has to act like everyone else because they are too pathetic to be who they want to be.

9. Be ambitious – This ties with having dreams, and trying new things. How can you live your life without doing anything? How can you live your life not wanting to do anything? Try to do something new and do what you want in life.

10. Live your life for you – Live for yourself and don’t hold yourself back because someone thinks you should do something else. Respect them and listen to their opinions but you ultimately know what you want.

11. Talk to new people! – Throw yourself out there and get to know new people!You can learn so much from someone you just meet. Meeting new people can be inspirational or beneficial later in life for sure!

I’ll add more when my mind is more active but this will do for now. Happiness is living your life doing what you want, meeting new people and trying new things. Living life to the best of your ability is the only way to live, don’t waste it. What’s the worst that could happen, right?

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , | 2 Comments

My Ideal Situation

Image

 

My ideal thesis project would be my own project, Injection. Injection is a trans media short that is an animation or motion graphic novel. I feel this kind of project is special because we are forced to break down every panel or shot into separate elements. Everything from the visual layers, colouring, sounds, voice work, movements and effects have to be carefully considered, arguably more so than a live action film. Failing to have these proper elements means losing emotion or interest in the entire story.  Working on Injection also offers those involved learning a different process of film making still used today and I believe it’s important for us to learn as many of these processes as possible to remain as diverse and skilled in the field. For me personally, working on one of my own projects like this gives me more responsibility and a realistic, unique learning experience that I’ll be able to take with me to market and accomplish other future projects I have in the real world. I realize this is a rare opportunity for me to get one of my fictional creative ideas out there and will do whatever it takes to make it a reality. I’ve dedicated a lot of my own time money to try and make this creative dream of mine a reality. If I by some unfortunate chance could not get my project approved, I would like to produce a project. I signed up to produce Michael Raine’s short film. I believe producing is the closest position to owning a production company, as there is a lot of paperwork and number to deal with along with people. If not, a 1st AD would be possible too as it’s important to stay organized and keep a project under control and properly managed whenever possible. As stated before I’m an ambitious person and I’d rather do whatever it takes to make my dreams come true but I know life isn’t all about me too and can make a producing or AD position a worthwhile learning experience.

Image

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Character Blog 4: Jinn ~ Significant Life Experiences

Bare with me… I got super invested into this blog in regards to how it relates and affects Jinn in the script. If I had the ability to do an origins story down the road, I’d definitely do one.

EVENT 1:

As previously stated in Blog 2, agents of The Syndicate are bred by the best of the best genes available and as a result there are multi ethnic individuals some mixed, others not. Jinn though mostly of Middle Eastern descent befriended another boy named Kazuki (name has specific meaning) of Japanese descent. The boys trained together as they grew up but did anything they could to keep it a secret as forming bonds beyond team training exercises is absolutely forbidden. They need to be trained as one man battalions and bonds are only seen as a hindrance to that result. Kazuki has always been far more skilled than Jinn but would help him whenever he could without being caught by their superiors. Despite growing up in an environment meant to groom him as a drone, Kazuki regularly thought freely and discussed these thoughts with Jinn despite making Jinn uncomfortable. Kazuki questioned where their parents were from or if they ever had any, what his life would be like if the old world still existed and why humanity hasn’t seemed to progress in so long since it’s downfall. He wondered why The Syndicate hasn’t shared it’s progress or knowledge with the world. One day all the trainees are informed they will be forced into fighting one of their comrades one-on-one to the death at random. Both boys glance at one another, fearful that they will be forced to kill one another. As Jinn enters the arena he is slightly relieved to see that his opponent is not Kazuki. After an intense battle with some close calls, Jinn is the victor only to immediately find out that he has graduated and will be permanently assigned to a different Syndicate base as a result. Not knowing where his friend is or if he even survived.

Event 2:
It’s been many years and Jinn has become quite seasoned at his life as an agent. He has dealt with so many petty human disputes and ordeals which make him tired. They fight for what seems like meaningless causes and they don’t appreciate how much safer they are in the cities as they aren’t allowed to venture out into the dangers of the current world full of hazardous beasts and raiders. As Jinn is on patrol in Sanctuary (a city with the most preserved old world tech that has a massive Syndicate citadel containing one of the largest databases of knowledge and artifacts of the old world.) While he takes a break a top one of the skyscrapers he gets a surprise visit from his old friend Kazuki. Jinn is thrilled to meet his old friend at first but worries as Kazuki begins to question his position as an agent. He talks about the Syndicate purposely controlling the last cities to maintain control and power over the people saying it’s not about preservation but a select few who demand control. This sounds like nothing more than treason to Jinn who suggests maybe they should part ways for now and before he leaves, he asks his friend not to do anything stupid. One night Jinn is alarmed by an emergency broadcast to all agents in the area to head to the Citadel as there was a massive explosion. Extremely skilled terrorists are attempting to break in and steal forbidden information/rare objects that they claimed were dangerous old world weapons. Jinn and the few remaining agents enter the building and have one of the toughest battles of their lives. These terrorists are much better equipped than they anticipated. This was a very well coordinated attack and threw all the agents off. As they battle these terrorists Jinn senses movement behind him. Kazuki is about to draw his signature katana with a black blade, Jinn shocked, is unable to react but Kazuki also fails to react, noticing his friend at the last second. Suddenly Kazuki is blown into a wall via an ice injection by his superior. Who orders Jinn to end him. Jinn hesitates, unwilling to end his only friend. Kazuki tells Jinn this is his most fitting situation. still clutching his katana. He tells Jinn to take it as a gift and orders Jinn to kill him. Jinn hesitates still, even with his superior continuously barking the order until Kazuki yells “FINSIH IT” Jinn screams as he drives a bolt of lightning through his friend’s chest. Kazuki smiles as he spits blood. Kazuki says “Yuujou” and drops his katana as he dies. Jinn hears the scabbard unlock the hilt. freeing the blade for use. Jinn takes the katana as his friend requested. Many of the terrorists escaped as Kazuki gave them time to get away with some of the artifacts. He notices a lot of the “weapons” were actually old world literature and texts. Jinn is promptly interrogated after these events then sent on a new assignment to the Middle East.

Though I’m sure there are many others, the two biggest influences for this second event to me in terms of movie scenes were from Equilibium…

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TJf9Pf9rjO4

…and Cloud Atlas:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mVAPjl6PZ2g

Event 3:

The third event takes place in the script with the defector. Though the viewer doesn’t know it, it hits Jinn close to home, forcing him to face his past with Kazuki and further leading him to progress as a character in terms of making him think more freely about The Syndicate’s role in the world and whether or not he can still be blissfully ignorant about their intentions and his actions done in their name. The relation of the events with the Defector are far too similar to the events he faced with Kazuki in event 2. It also makes one wonder how will go on from here on out? What will he decide to do after accomplishing this mission?

These 3 events give Jinn a little bit of a human touch despite growing up as a drone and allow the narrative to progress if possible.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

Character Blog 3: Jinn – Personality Test

JINN – ISTJ – Introverted Sensing Thinking Judging

TYPELOGIC DEFINITION – ISTJs are often called inspectors. They have a keen sense of right and wrong, especially in their area of interest and/or responsibility. They are noted for devotion to duty. Punctuality is a watchword of the ISTJ. The secretary, clerk, or business(wo)man by whom others set their clocks is likely to be an ISTJ.

As do other Introverted Thinkers, ISTJs often give the initial impression of being aloof and perhaps somewhat cold. Effusive expression of emotional warmth is not something that ISTJs do without considerable energy loss.

ISTJs are most at home with “just the facts, Ma’am.” They seem to perform at highest efficiency when employing a step-by-step approach. Once a new procedure has proven itself (i.e., has been shown “to work,”) the ISTJ can be depended upon to carry it through, even at the expense of their own health.

ISTJs are easily frustrated by the inconsistencies of others, especially when the second parties don’t keep their commitments. But they usually keep their feelings to themselves unless they are asked. And when asked, they don’t mince words. Truth wins out over tact. The grim determination of the ISTJ vindicates itself in officiation of sports events, judiciary functions, or an other situation which requires making tough calls and sticking to them.

His SJ orientation draws the ISTJ into the service of established institutions. Home, social clubs, government, schools, the military, churches — these are the bastions of the SJ. “We’ve always done it this way” is often reason enough for many ISTJs. Threats to time-honored traditions or established organizations (e.g., a “run” on the bank) are the undoing of SJs, and are to be fought at all costs.

Michael Schroeder – ENFJ – Extraverted iNtuitive Feeling Judging

TYPELOGIC DEFINITION – ENFJs are the benevolent ‘pedagogues’ of humanity. They have tremendous charisma by which many are drawn into their nurturant tutelage and/or grand schemes. Many ENFJs have tremendous power to manipulate others with their phenomenal interpersonal skills and unique salesmanship. But it’s usually not meant as manipulation — ENFJs generally believe in their dreams, and see themselves as helpers and enablers, which they usually are.

ENFJs are global learners. They see the big picture. The ENFJs focus is expansive. Some can juggle an amazing number of responsibilities or projects simultaneously. Many ENFJs have tremendous entrepreneurial ability.

ENFJs are, by definition, Js, with whom we associate organization and decisiveness. But they don’t resemble the SJs or even the NTJs in organization of the environment nor occasional recalcitrance. ENFJs are organized in the arena of interpersonal affairs. Their offices may or may not be cluttered, but their conclusions (reached through feelings) about people and motives are drawn much more quickly and are more resilient than those of their NFP counterparts.

ENFJs know and appreciate people. Like most NFs, (and Feelers in general), they are apt to neglect themselves and their own needs for the needs of others. They have thinner psychological boundaries than most, and are at risk for being hurt or even abused by less sensitive people. ENFJs often take on more of the burdens of others than they can bear.

Similarities and differences

In terms of our personalities, Jinn and I are basically polar opposites across the board. Jinn’ main purpose is to serve The Syndicate and nothing more. He does not care for people outside of it’s cause and objectives and will decimate those in his path to those objectives. Jinn doesn’t care much for people in general, feeling he is above the common humans who’ve let themselves become nothing more than frightened, loathsome filth, not worth preserving. I on the other hand enjoy creating opportunities to aid people in any way I can on an emotional, social or financial level. I often put other people’s needs ahead of my own. Jinn is not a social creature at all, he loves his solitude outside the cities even if the world outside is more dangerous. I love everything about people, from what gives them motivation to what aspects make them who they are. People are amazing and there is so much to a person regardless of how interesting or boring they may seem as there are so many intricate details I their life’s road to make them who they are today.

Jinn doesn’t care much to talk his way in and out of situations as he can just intimidate them by association of who he is. He strikes fear into the hearts of people to get what he wants. I am not one to intimidate people in any sense but I have this innate ability to get people to trust me quickly and somewhat manipulate them to my will. As negative as this sounds I use this manipulation to help people realize their goals. For example I use someone’s trust in me when they pour their intimate details of their life to me to help them realize what may be causing the issue by picking out specific aspects of their personality. This trust people have in me also makes them want to help me even without giving them a whole lot in return mostly because they refuse rather than me trying to use them. This in a sense this is a similarity because we know how to encourage people to help us through a form of manipulative means even if the intent of manipulation is the opposite.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

Character Blog 2: Jinn The 5 W’s

None of this information is shown or mentioned in the short film itself.

To maintain control and ensure the progression of humanity in this dystopian, post-apocalyptic world, The Syndicate must employ it’s own agents and the most effective way is to breed their own. Jinn, as many other infants, was bred and tested by The Syndicate. Infants with the strongest genes are born and tested with injections. It’s a ruthless process with a high mortality rate. The children are trained as young as possible in all forms of academia and training from fighting techniques and survival skills to controlling the power of the injections to increase tolerance. They exercise their minds through ancient (our modern) knowledge regarding psychology, battle tactics and international languages and cultures. They are basically super human drones, trained to do The Syndicate’s bidding ‘for the betterment of humanity’ or perish for treason.

An Example of the invasive treatments:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YK86-0o2sE4 (0:00-1:09)

As previously mentioned, due to human activity in a previous age, humanity led itself to it’s own demise through wars, pollution and lack of resources. The Syndicate, previously a corporation, took control and forced the last remaining humans to live in settlements across the globe or most likely perish or endanger themselves in the outside world. Maintaining control proved to be difficult with dwindling resources.

An idea as to what parts of the world may look like:
Ruin: A Post Apocalyptic Short Film: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OtV-4XiCNPw

Aladdin 3150 (Ignore the lizard man Aladdin) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U71esiXj2ug

Much of this story is a reflection on the state of our world today and a major reason as to why it is so important to me. Even though it’s a form of entertainment, it critiques our actions and responsibilities to our planet, society and fellow human beings. Conditioning young people is a major concern I have with flawed education systems around the globe including our own. The constant need for human’s to progress and become more than human may do nothing more than devolve them into tools for destruction. All our society wishes for is to consume more and more until we can no longer do so and end up consuming ourselves in the process.

Posted in Uncategorized | 1 Comment

Character Blog 1: Jinn – Inspiration

I’ve always been fascinated with the idea of the anti-hero. A character that is neither good or bad within a story that have their own personal motives. I find they are much more relate able to people due to a seemingly more intense inner conflict as a normal person is neither all good or purely evil. When I created Jinn, I wanted a dark looking character who was arrogant in his abilities and have traits that seemed almost villainous due to his super human abilities.  It was imperative that the powers used at his disposal were showed to not only be a part of his arrogance but also a part of his inner conflict or anguish. The following videos below helped inspire what kind of pain and mental trauma I could see him going through while injecting himself with his powers. Being a dark and mysterious character I found it imperative that people knew when he was a syndicate member by physical appearance before he revealed any powers as shown in the pictures below.

Cloak 2 Cloak

Yellow eyesOuroboros.pentagram

I decided to distinguish him visually through his cloak, the mark on his hand and his eyes. All of these were inspired through various other stories mixed with my imagination. The entire story was inspired through a song called Kismet by Bond. The powers and distinct eyes were inspired through video games: Bioshock and The Witcher (inspired from a book) and the cloak and  markings were inspired by various Japanese animations such as: Bleach and Full Metal Alchemist. My creativity tends to stem from other media where I can take multiple ideas and stem and mold them into my own.

Kismet – Bond

Videos:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IV-ydowvT-E

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FjNxbGqgHXg

 

Posted in Uncategorized | 1 Comment