The Process Diary: Discussion Point 06-09

I have been doing some exciting stuff other than Character Development recently. Stuff I have not been able to reveal up until now. Be it because ownership was not mine, or I had to keep it under wraps before its release, I can now talk about these works so you can all have a look at what else has been going on while working on my own project. I bring these up because they impact my work in ways that are creative, instructive, and they add to my ever expanding body of work in positive ways.

The first job was for Like-minded Studio in Surrey Hills. It was to produce a 30 second spot for Optus. The subject matter was pretty simple: promote a new phone deal as the monster creation of the "Optus Lab".

From Freelance Work

I worked with three other creatives, but ultimately took main ownership of the project, especially when it came to final edit and client tweaks. We just made the deadline on this, and I must say I'm pretty proud of it... even if the ad itself is kind of annoying and silly.

Another project most of you won't know about is issue 138 of the Heroes Web comic. It's process is well-documented over at Jason Badower's blog, 1000 words. Jason gave me a brief outline and layout of the room. He then gave me creative license on producing a clean, modern style apartment, furnished with trendy lamps, shelves, and things. It was done completely in Blender, and the final camera angles were rendered with the "edge" mode selected. I had aimed to help Jason out with the line work, giving him the basis to add his artwork to, but to his credit, I simply gave him a clear reference to overlay his own line-work.

From Freelance Work

Here is a short video I did to illustrate the layering process, and the 3D set behind it:

Heroes Web Comic breakdown from Paul Caggegi on Vimeo.

NBC just recently released the next issue - Rebellion Part 4 in which I was privileged enough to have modeled Building 26 - complete with hospital gurneys and human figures for Jason's perspective reference. The backgrounds are not so noticeable, but another breakdown video is in the works.

Overall, I have been proud with the results of this past work. There are a couple more jobs which are being worked on at the moment, of which I will speak of in weeks to come, once they are released to the general public. It really feels as though several months of networking, making contact and slaving away at trying to set myself up, are all beginning to pay off. Hopefully, Character development won't suffer greatly.

Finally, I am appearing on three other podcasts this month. The first will be accompanied with a post right here on June 6th. The 365 Days of Astronomy podcast has been set up to celebrate the international year of astronomy. I submitted a short interview with colleague, Kynan Stephenson, and we talked about his new hobby - backyard astrophotography. If you're interested in all things astronomical, why not check it out and subscribe via the iTunes music store, or by visiting the official website: 365 days of astronomy.

The second podcast I will be featured on can be found here: Starship Sofa: Aural delights episode 86 I have offered my voice talent to this podcast in the past, reading several short stories. This "issue" I read a Cory Doctorow article titled "Extreme Geek". This article is extremely relevant to what I do, and what I aim to do with my own story.

Lastly, I will be appearing on a future episode of Chris Oatley's Artcast. You might remember Chris from a couple of episodes ago. I was invited to speak on his show along with children's book illustrator, Dani Jones. We spoke a bit about how the internet affects us as artists - a topic close to my own heart. Subscribe to his podcast today, or check back to his website for this up-coming episode, which should be available soon.

Surprisingly, all this extra work has not detracted from Character Development! In fact, between the promotional advantage of appearing on other podcasts, and the opportunity to keep my skills well practiced, it has only helped in seeing new options for what I need to do in future on this project. To drive home the points: I got to practice some animation withthe Optus ad; I got to create sets in the quickest, most efficient way I could think of with the Heroes work (not to mention I practiced taking direction, which only helped me become a better director); and I got the chance to put my thoughts into concise and punchy soundbites when self-promoting.

All these are vital to becoming a better storyteller. It is no secret that today, the writers that thrive are the ones who learn a bit about PR, and how to bend social media networks to your will.