Monday, January 12, 2009

GERALD'S LAST DAY WINS!



Shel here:

Just back from our very first film festival where we had a blast with Justin's little sister Jenna and hubby Chris......watching movies, bowling, riding bikes at midnight in the cold cold cold, hiking in the beautiful mountains, and WINNING the BEST ANIMATION award (!!!) at the Festivus Film Festival.

just being at the festival was so cool, the people were nice, the theaters funky and fun, the movies interesting......incredible to see the variety resulting when different people set out to make an animiated short. our block of shorts ran the range from dark and abstract stop mo to colorful psychodelic computer graffics; stories and points of views animated thru all sorts of mediums (GC, stop mo, 2d, even etch-a-sketch!).....very very cool.
(jenna and us in front of BUG theater)


and of course it was thrilling and scarey to see our film on the big screen with an audience of real peeps (rather than friends who love us). because justin and i are used to performing (me dance, him track & field), we found ourselves at odds with all the energy before the viewing....there was nothing we could DO! we had to just SIT with it and wait.....no stretch, or thought, or amount of "presence" was going to change our performance, no way to adapt to the moment.....what was done was done and we just had to sit there (trembling slightly) and see how it would be taken......

thankfully once the film started playing it felt like the audience was "in there" with gerald and his journey. we could tell by the chuckles and sighs that they were "getting it". they clapped when it was done.....enthusiasticly! such a relief.

then we went up and talked about it, answered some questions. that part was surprisingly more comfortable, now we could DO something at least.

one issue came up: during the end credits we realized that our credits are WAY, {embarrassingly} too long. it's silly that watching it at home it never dawned on us, but in a dark theater with the audience waiting for the next SHORT it's really apparent! it's a HUMBLING problem that we may just have to live with and chalk up to inexperience.....cuz we've already committed to our digibetas....it's bugging us both alot though.

the award is in the shape of a skull and is made out of HEAVY METAL and hangs on a heavy metal chain. very substantial....justin and i took turns wearing it (chilly on the neck in the denver night air!).

so all was well till the security guy x-raying bags at the airport said "who's bag is this?" uh, oh, here we go.....justin says "mine" and the guy's all: "nice necklace man!"
(that's chris back there all happy for us)


whew! nice necklace indeed!

18 comments:

Font said...

Hey guys, been following the blog for awhile but never posted. Just wanted to say Congrats on the win!! Must feel great. Hopefully more will come. I wait in anticipation for news on the next film. :)

Robert Litton said...

Chunk would be very proud.

amoebaboy said...

hi congratulations on the win and thanks for dropping by.
cheers.

Ryan McCulloch said...

Very cool award! Congrats you guys!

rich said...

booya! Nice one. Congrats guys!

Anonymous said...

This is just the beginning. I'm callin' it!

Shelley Noble said...

Great post, Shel. I'm cheering for your honesty about the credit, etc. as much as for the award. Rock on.

Tell me, will Gerald be attending his film premiere in L.A. Sunday?

jriggity said...

{Font} - Wow! thanks for postin man!!
its so cool to meet new people and find new blogs to explore!!Im always floored when a lurker comes into light.

It does feel great man! and definately MORE to come.

{Robert} - Ive been lookin for burried treasure ever since we got the award!

{amoebaboy} dood Ill be regular dropping by...I loved your saucer!

{Ryan} thanks man!

{Rich} thanks dood!

{Don} were hopeing so man....and its lookin good so far too.

{Herself} thanks and YES -gerald will be on hand in Puppet and maquette version sunday.

justin

CraftCadet said...

Thats so cool. Congratulations. I love the credits when all participating gets a mention, no need for embarrassment. I want to see it! when will it seen in the UK?

Kevin Harman said...

Very neat, watching your movie in a theater for the first time is always exciting!

Kenneth Sipel said...

Congrats on your first win (for this film)! I'm looking forward to your film coming to my neighborhood (SF), are you by any chance going to bring puppets and/or sculpts?
BTW you will just miss the art of Coraline show at the Cartoon Art Museum, it comes down Feb 15. Thanks for sharing your amazing trip.

Emily said...

Congrats!! So well deserved, can't wait to see it!

Anonymous said...

Fantastic news guys! Very well done to you both!

Anonymous said...

Hey guys, I've written up an article about Gerald's Last Day on Animateclay (nice little rhyme hehe)

But anyway, take a look

http://www.animateclay.com/

Alonso said...

woohooo! That's great guys, congratulations!

Adam said...

Congrats again! It's just the first of many 1st place pimp-medallions! Can't wait for the Rialto...

Woolly Monster said...

Yippeeee! Woohooo! Fantastic! :)

Craig Harris said...

Super Fun Night guys!!! Thanks a million, and there really is no limit to what you can accomplish.

AIM FOR THE TOP!!!