So there was a huge gap in the production between 2001 and 2010.
I finished the animation & clean up, planning to finish the film as a minimal pencil lined drawn animation in 2001. After completing the film according to that plan..., I realized that it was missing a lot of visual explorations that I originally planned for. So I decided Not to call it done, and continued to develop the new art direction..., expecting to delay the production about a year... well, who knew that would end up stretching to over 10 years...
Now looking back, I would have been happy to leave the look the way it was with just simple lines and hints of tones and shades here and there..., but I thought that I had to keep trying to find 'the look' that I was looking for. I am honestly not sure what would have been the wiser choice. I was young... I had to try if I wasn't completely satisfied with the film. (r...ight?)
Unfortunately (& very fortunately), my professional career had kept me quite busy since then. I had a full-time teaching job (4 classes per quarter, 4 quarters a year), AND almost full-time regular freelance jobs on the side from 2001 to 2007. Happy complaints...! But when I had the commitments to others, of course my project got pushed down to the bottom of my priority list. After having wonderful years getting good experience in the commercial studios and teaching in MN, Todd & I moved from Minneapolis back to LA in 2007. Settled in LA, studio projects had kept me busy (most of time, I worked double shifts on projects, while I taught at Calarts & CSULB part-time, so my schedule wasn't that different from my previous years.
During these years, it was very hard to find time for my film. (few weeks every other year, or if I got lucky, a few months every 3 years or so. I remember working on the animation fixes on 2003 & 2006, then picking up again in 2010 (production on hold on other years).
Then bad economy crisis hit Hollywood too. Things had dried up pretty badly for me in 2010, and I didn't have much 'paid-projects' to work on. Good & Bad: Bad for the obvious reasons, and Good... I could finally get back to the 'Ahco'.
So here we go again...
The samples from the next posting (above) are made after waking up from my long hibernation... in 2010.
The production was still slow, since I had day-jobs, and I was mostly using nights and weekends, but my mind was set to complete the film this time around, no more holds.
