Moving Forward... Fast!

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Hey There Folks,

I'm looking to make Dancing Zombie a legitimate corporation in the next few months. When Dancing Zombie Productions got its start in 2004, it was with short stop-motion animations, silly on-the-fly shorts and then on to some streamlined productions that actually showed some potential--enough to get me into film school. Now, six years since my days tinkering with action figures I'm on the path to turning Dancing Zombie Productions into something more. It's interesting to see this company start from literally nothing, and when I take a big step back and take a look at what I have... well, it's not much but it's definitely something.

In the meantime, I've finished my first solid draft of "Alone Together".  It's something I'm really looking forward to because of the highly developed characters. Their pasts are something I can't wait to delve into with the actors. Very demanding roles. But then I guess that will push me to be a little more demanding of myself; to start integrating the performances with the technical side in a more harmonious fashion.

For now, here are those photos from my trip to Idaho Falls...

Taylor Rd, just overlooking The Foothills.

Mom's Place.

Chloe.

Since I was taking these photos with a disposable camera, the flash kept resetting automatically every time I wound it up. I don't know why. I didn't' hold the flash button or anything. It was just working on it's own terms. It really sucked because I didn't want to blow out things in the foreground--especially during the day. So I thought, "Heh-heh. I know how to fix this," and whacked the camera against my palm to trigger the flash, just before I snapped a picture. Well, as I thought I was outsmarting this inferior device, the joke was on me. With every whack against the camera, the shutter was knocked out of place, exposing the film, and then *click*, *wind, wind, wind*... (double exposure).

The shed behind the house, by the wild raspberry patch.

Taylor Rd. at sunset.

A rainbow over The Foothills in the late evening.

The trees leaking sand down Taylor Rd.

These have to be my favorites. My mom's neighbors own a couple of horses and I befriended this black stallion who would hang out by the fence. Eventually I gathered the courage to introduce myself, and after a couple races down the fence with him, he let me take these shots. Of course, I didn't want the flash go off in his face, so I pointed the camera away towards the ground to trigger the flash just before grabbing the shots. Here's what I got.

When I got back the photos, I was so upset, but in a few minutes they began to grow on me. Some of them are very surreal, and though the images didn't come out the way I wanted, they came back with a creative edge I wish I could take credit for. I'll just remember my method and maybe experiment a little more in the future... But I'd rather have a camera of my own.

Luckily this shot came out without any sort of wacky double exposure. I'm surprised, but I suppose it was fate that I have this photo as unharmed as possible.

Mom.

It's been a really great experience getting out of the city for as long as this, but soon enough I'll have to get back to New York, and then in a week it'll be back to school to make "Alone Together" jump off the page.

In the meantime, I'll be working on this and that, gearing up for my Junior year. I expect to show you guys some boards from the upcoming animation I'm producing with Jordan Cash-Cooper by next week--or perhaps, if they're ready by then, some animatics. I'll also be putting together a new blog, entitled "Poster Fanatic" which will be solely devoted to examining the somewhat neglected artform that film has inadvertently spawned. Talks of posters then, now, and where they're going. Keep a look-out. I'm really looking forward to it. >>>

Take care.

Keep On Truckin',
John Morgan

P.S.