Happy Holidays!

Happy Holidays from Brian and his Beard!

I hope everyone's holidays are super awesome, me and my family have been having a most awesome christmas. I also created personalized christmas cards for my family, you can check 'em out below.

This first one is for my older brother, Will

For my sister-in-law, Rei-Hua

For my Dad

For my Mom

My younger brother, Alex

My girlfriend, Amanda

Hope everyone is having a most excellent holiday season! ^_^

The freelancing has begun!

The freelancing has begun!

I've been hard at work on the pre-production for roughly 2 minutes of animation which are part of a bigger live action short film. I think the script for the film is excellent and I truly am excited to be working on it. Not sure how much i'm allowed to say so that is all I will say but I can show some of the designs I have done, here is the main character and the king wolf.

Also soon to start up is a 41 page comic which I will be undertaking with a colleague. Should be great experience, I am looking forward to being challenged and growing from it!

Lastly I leave you with this cd cover I did for my friend CJ's solo album, "The Krusty Skinners" which will be released soon(TBA)!

Ch. 2 of Kyah & Koh is complete!

Last 5 pages of Kyah & Koh Chapter 02 is up!

Page 11

If you haven't read any of Chapter 02 you can start here,

Chapter 02

Taking a break from Kyah & Koh for a little whiles since some work is cropping up, but I plan to get back to it hopefully in a month or 2. The final goal is to have all 4 chapters of Kyah & Koh completed by this summer.

I also put together an ad for my friend's computer & website building company (which I also help in with flash web design). Check it out below, i'm especially happy with how my little robot dude came out.

There are three different freelance jobs that I should be starting shortly, they are all very exciting and I cannot wait to get started on them! I'll put more details up as they officially start, don't want to jump the gun on anything yet.

Also, Shelley Low started up this awesome collaboration blog where a bunch of us artist people get together and post art every two weeks on a specific subject which we take turns picking.

Should be fun! Check it out at Tonight, We Draw

Smoke Stack Boy + Final Japan Videos

Smoke Stack Boy, my new children's book, is available for purchase!

Check it out here:

Smoke Stack Boy

And the last two Japan videos are up!

Japan Day 11

Japan Final Days

Lastly, here's some rough character design for the new short film I am currently storyboarding

Kyah & Koh Ch.2 + Japan Video 10

First 5 pages for Kyah & Koh Chapter 2 are up!

Check them out here!

Kyah & Koh Chapter 2

Also Japan Video 10 is up!

Japan Video 10

Also my first attempt at a Children's Book is going to finally be on Amazon soon! I finally got all the margins and blah blah blahs right. Now I'm just waiting for physical copy in the mail and make sure everything is right before it is available for purchase.

Still working on Dilworth's short and the clothing store website. Bunko finished up the episode we were working on and now I'm waiting for the next one to start up. ALSO, ramping up for a new short film which I plan to do by the end of next semester. I'm treating it as a second thesis. I'll put up some artwork from that in the next post.

Off to a little halloween partay, later!

Work overflow & Squid Boy Make Love

Alright so I worked at Bunko over the past week and was busy being a professional squatter hopping between people's places in NYC. But it worked out well in the end and now I am going back in again tomorrow and could be there into the weekend.

I've also been working on a flash website for an indie clothing store which is coming along, I'll put it up on here once it is up and running.

And I am doing opening titles for a Parkour video which my brother directed and shot which has been very cool to be a part of.

I'm having so many issues getting Smoke Stack Boy up on Amazon's createspace, ARGH! It is very frustrating. Dealing with margin areas and gutter margins and all these margins that I don't understand!! But i'm not giving up, hopefully it'll be up this century.

Kyah & Koh, well I have the whole thing planned out and chapter 2 is half thumbnailed out, I even started inking the first page but the plentiful amount of work I have gotten lately is gonna put that on hold for now.

I did more figure drawing! Most of them were awful, here's one that is ok.

I got a spark of inspiration to make a flash game the other night and the culmination of that inspiration is Squid Boy Make Love. This game uses advanced nano cell technology and 4D graphics so please prepare your eyes to be destroyed.

You can download the .swf for

Squid Boy Make Love

HERE

Return to Bunko + Japan Day 9 is up

So the work is suddenly pouring back in again, it looks like I will be returning to Bunko. I am very excited to be going back even if it ends up being for just a short while. Between that, Dilworth's short film, and some other small projects that have been cropping up I seem to suddenly be getting very busy again.

I am also in the process of putting my children's book "Smoke Stack Boy" up on Amazon.

Keep an eye out for that.

I visited NYC this past week and did some figure drawing in the George Washington building, I was super rusty since it's been probably half a year since I did figure drawing but I had one drawing I was slightly ok with

Oh and Japan day 9 video is up, check it out below:

Japan Day 9

Titmouse Party + Japan Day 8 + Other updates

Japan Day 8 <--- Click for video

Went to the opening party for Titmouse's new studio in New York City! Was a great time, got to speak and shake hands with the creator of Superjail and Venture Brothers! Even if for only a brief time. The studio itself looked like an amazing place to work, they even have a pool table. Also they had a webcam broadcast of the LA studio, we even got to wave hi to our friend Ben who works at the LA studio. At the end of the night I had the chance to meet with John Dilworth as I was leaving and am now in the process of beginning work once again on his short film!

I also was inspired by the reaction to Kyah and Koh Chapter 1 and will continue the comic. I was uncertain at first but the response made me excited to move on to chapter 2 which I am planning now.

Also working on a children's book, "Smoke Stack Boy". It's a bit dark but I hope it can merit as a children's book. You can see the original sketch for the cover below!

The Comic is done!

It's done!

You can check it out at Drunk Duck here:

Kyah! & Koh!

It's also on Smack Jeeves:

Smack Jeeves

Please rate and give comments. I'm open to feedback and critique, i'm new to this so i'm looking for some insight.

Enjoy!

Japan Day 7 Video + Wisdom Teeth

Japan Day 7 <-- click for video

The song I am creating for the trailer to the Haiti documentary is progressing. I am still trying to adjust it to what the filmmakers want. I would put up what I had here If I knew how to, but blogger doesnt seem to have a way to upload music to it.

My wisdom teeth come out tomorrow! Cant wait to be drugged up ^_^

Oh and I woke up to Halo Reach being at my doorstep :)

Goodbye all the projects I wanted to do, hello ultimate distraction from everything. (If I don't post on here again this week someone needs to come to my house and slap my face. You have permission as I will need to get out of my reach coma)

Creepy Drawing, Progress, and My Insane Parents

First let's get the creepy out of the way...

I was suddenly inspired to draw this in the middle of the night... I can't explain why... it is myself (The Beard) and my girlfriend Amanda. I'll just try to let the image speak for itself.

My comic is coming along and I hope to have the first chapter ready to go and up for all to see by the end of this weekend if all goes well.

I have also begun to do some music for a documentary my brother filmed in Haiti, i'm trying to really push it and make it live up to the uplifting documentary. Hopefully i'll meet everyones expectations.

Halo Reach came out! And I stayed up all night with my good friend swampass to beat the campaign in one sitting on Heroic, which we did! I was a little dissapointed with the campaign's ending but overall was a great experience and am super psyched to waste loads of my life on multiplayer.

Anyway when I got back home I found this note on the front door of my house, more proof that my parents are quickly loosing their sanity:

For Full Size Image of the creepy drawing at the top go here -->

http://squirrelmafia.deviantart.com/art/Beauty-and-The-Beard-179241290

Japan Day 6 Video & Some Fanartsy thing

Japan Day 6!

So, my brother went off to college this past week and asked me to make him artwork to put on his wall, this is what I came up with.


Larger Version Here

Japan Day 5 Video & Other Progress

Japan Day 5

I completed the first draft for the screenplay to "Acirema" which is the 35 minute film which I hope to produce with the help of friends and anyone else interested in the project. If anyone would like to see the screenplay to consider being a part of the film's production please contact me. I can use all the help I could get and will also be open to any and all critique.

I'm finishing up Page 5 of my comic, I'm not sure at the moment whether I should wait till the first full chapter is done or if I should put it up here in pieces... hrmmm... Time will tell.

Later

Tokyo Day 4 & NJ Film Fest & More

Tokyo, Japan Day 4! <-- click for video

So this past Sunday I went to the New Jersey Film Festival to see the screening of my film "Memories". The screening started good, for a sunday on a holiday weekend it was a decent turnout we had like 25 people there. The place was big, really nice theater type seating, a giant projector screen, and awesome audio. The good stuff ends there.My film comes on and it is WAY too bright, to the point that on certain shots you cannot even see Soul's face! Then Soul dives into his memory and the colors are all totally off, there is NO red and everything has this disgusting yellow tint to it. So the film finishes and everyone seems to have still enjoyed it, clapping, all that jazz.

Then the next film comes on... i'm sorry I have to be blunt about this. That film was terrible. And 99% of the audience will agree with me on this, we were cringing in our chairs. Waiting for this film to END. A hour and a half documentary from decades ago with no direction, no view, no insight, just nonsense that didn't bother to piece itself together. Half the film was spoken in

hebrew and there weren't subtitles! At the end during the credits you hear a soldier yelling and moaning in hebrew and an old woman in the crowd actually yelled out "SHUTUP!". There was no applause.

Although I had a lot of issues with it, I am grateful to have been chosen to be screened and was happy to be a part of the festival none the less.

In other news I am just about done with a screenplay for a half hour animated film I would like to create, yeah i'm crazy. This is what I want to do though, I will be happy to pitch the film to anyone who is interested. Obviously I will need a lot of help with creating a film this ambitious. I'll show more of the designs and artwork for that as it comes to fruition.

Also in talks with my brother on doing a short film which will incorporate both animation and live action footage! Hope to shoot that in October.

I'm also creating a comic book, I had an idea and wanted to give cartooning a try. I've inked and colored 2 pages, I seem to get a page done a day so if I keep that up I should be able to put the first chapter within a month or so.

Also really excited for HALO REACH! Only 2 weeks left! Here I drew a little fan art to show my enthusiasm for the game! It's kinda tiny here so go to my DA page to see it full size ->

Halo Reach Fanart Full Size

Tokyo Day 3 Video

Tokyo Day 3

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GKRAYpuU0F4

Otakon 2010 Workshop Video

This is pretty boring honestly but here's a glimpse into the workshop Myself, Mallory Coronado, Emmanuel Espinal, Ivey Ao, and Jon Setter put together at Otakon 2010.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LBKt2JwJ1ZY

Also here's the two drawings I did of the Laputa statue atop the Ghbli Museum

Tokyo Day 2 Video

Tokyo Day 2 Video!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bulULeWj7cg

Otakon 2010 Video

Otakon 2010 Video

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=38W400I8cMw

Back from Tennessee

Tokyo, Japan Day 1 video is now up --> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JVZAIStv6Rc

So, I just got back to New Jersey this past Monday from Tennessee. I was visiting Amanda

there for 3 weeks, she is going for her master's in Paleontology at the East Tennessee State

University. I hung out with her and her new dog Roo Roo. Saw some of the sights, ate tons of "Cici's Pizza" which I will dearly miss. Saw "Scott Pilgrim vs The World" which was amazing and a truly unique film. Also saw Piranha 3D which was pretty much the opposite of "unique" but it was a great shitty film and fun to watch. Got lost on the Appalachian trail accidentally for 2 hours, good thing we had Amanda's new Droid to guide us back to civilization. I gave her swimming lessons at a nearby pool and then we headed off to Ashville. We saw an amazing botanical garden at one of the colleges there and some really nice shops showcasing many independent artists of the area. Also drank iced coffee on an old fashioned double decker bus! Really was a nice area. Then I hopped on a plane, the tiniest plane I have ever seen.

Transferred in Atlanta and arrived safely in Allentown, PA where my dad picked me up and took me back to Newton, NJ. It was a good time and i'm already missing Amanda, hopefully I will see her again soon.

Also went to Otakon! Myself, Manny, Ivey, Jon, & Malory held a workshop there called

"How To Make Your Own Anime From Home". Unfortunately we were kinda tired and unorganized but despite this I think we put on a good workshop and the audience seemed to really enjoy it and get something out of it. We even had a little animation that the audience participated in! I'll post the video up on youtube soon.

Lastly the New Jersey Film Festival is around the corner and "Memories" will be shown there so if you can make it please come! The details are here:

http://www.njfilmfest.com/

My film will be shown on September 5th at 7pm

Hope to see you there!

Tokyo, Japan Opening Video

Tokyo, Japan Opening Video!

The first video of fourteen, this will take some time to get them all up but enjoy the opening video. Please watch at 720p!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q6UfK8AHTdA

Back Home

I'm back home, tired as can be. Jet lag is hitting me hard. Sorry I never posted anything more while in Japan, we took it pretty easy the last 2-3 days and I didn't feel like recording much.

In any case for now I rest but I will put together videos that document the entire vacation in time. The footage that has been on this blog really only touched the surface.

For now sleep

Later

Japan Day 11

Japan Day 11

Today we went to Harajuku. There were lots of people with incredibly bizarre costumes and wardrobes and plenty of shops selling unique japanese clothing which was all cool and neat. But, the place was sooo crowded and so loud it was just way too much to deal with. There is a major shopping street, this street was packed to the brim and it was crazy hot out. Then we went inside the major clothes store in Harajuku and this place was just utter insanity. People were yelling at every store about sales, they were holding up giant signs and screaming out of cones while dozens of people poured in from every which direction. There's a video of some of the craziness but you had to truly be there to understand. We also met with Asami in Harajuku and she guided us around much of the area. Asami went to rutgers as part of an overseas program and became friends with Amanda who was a part of the same program, I met Asami while she was in the US twice in NYC. In any case she helped us get around and also introduced us to this really good food, these cooked squid balls with different toppings on them, very good!

Then Asami led us to Asakusa which is a more traditional part of Tokyo. They had a long shopping strip similar to Harajukus except that all the stores sold traditional japanese merchandise and the whole place had that old Japan vibe to it. It was pretty neat to see this side of the city but there wasn't really anything that we were particularly interested in buying.

We then said our goodbyes to Asami, hopefully we will meet her again next year in Tokyo or the next time she visits the US.

Then we met up with Yuki for our last visit with her, she treated us to an amazing Yakitori restaraunt. Really great food! Afterwards Yuki took us to an equally amazing coffee place. Everything inside was very fancy and seemed to be antiques that had been cleaned up. It was a very nice end to a very tiring day. For our last two days here we are going to just do a little more shopping and hit up the hot springs once. So there will likely be only one more post before I get back to NJ as we will be taking it easy for the end of our vacation.

It's been amazing and I plan to put together a polished complete video of our trip in time with all the great footage I haven't been able to post here.

Tomorrow Shopping, Shinjuku, & Shibuya

Later

Japan Day 10

Japan Day 10

Today we went to the Tokyo International Toy Show in Odaiba. We were pretty dissapointed when we found out it was a toy show for little kids, we were under the impression that a toy show in japan would have some kickass grown up toy stuff. Well to make the trip worthwhile I got to see a live performance of people in giant pokemon costumes enacting a battle... i think... or something like that. Anyway it made me very happy, the video is too long to put up here but here's a short clip from after the battle.

On our way back we spotted this beautiful giant clock which I recognized from something I had read online a while back. It was a clock that Hayao Miyazaki designed himself. We got off the train and checked it out up close, a nice Austrian guy told us it would turn on in ten minutes and be quite a sight to see; this guy had also been waiting a hour and half for this clock to turn on so I figured it had to be good. Again, the video is too big to put up on here but I assure you it was worth the wait. This was the most elaborate clock I have ever seen, at 3 o clock everything on the clock moved, lights turned on, music played. Obviously a Miyazaki creation.

We then met up with Yuki and Joey and made a long journey to the actual Studio Ghibli. To my surprise the studio was located in a rural area in the middle of the street, literally in the middle of a plain old town surrounded by average homes and shops. Nothing spectacular. However they did have their own personal farm and there were vines and vegetation crawling up every single side of the building. I was also surprised that the studio was so small. It was a very humble studio thats for sure.

I then remembered I had my buisness cards with me and Yuki did the most amazing thing for me, something I will never forget. She talked the security guard into giving my buisness card to Hayao Miyazaki! I'm sure nothing will come of this but just the thought makes me incredibly happy :).

Maybe he won't even get it but what Yuki did for me I am incredibly thankful for. It was not an easy task either, the security guard was very hard to convince since the studio was so incredibly strict and they were given such specific instructions. But it happened.

Thanks Yuki!

Harajuku & meeting with Asami tomorrow!

Later

Japan Day 9

Japan Day 9

Today we went to Kamakura, a good hour and a half away but because of that it really is outside of the city and has a different feel than all the places we have been to thus far. We ventured through tight rural areas which were incredibly quiet and empty with vegetation growing out every where and moss climbing up the walls of nearby houses and trees. We walked SO MUCH today, we were passing out on the train ride back.

Our first stop was the Giant Buddha! Which is pretty self-explanatory but up close it is a truly epic site. You also can go inside of the buddha which is kinda cool i guess.

Afterwards we were heading towards the station when we came upon a random giant staircase, Tom insisted on going up them to see where they went. We ended up on a 1.6 kilometer adventure through what felt like the middle of forest in Japan which I guess is exactly what it was. The trail was really unique in that it used lots of natural elements to create stairs, you'd be walking up steps made of wood and mud with roots weaving all around the steps. Many times it felt like you were walking up a tree. We eventually found our way out into a really nice area which overlooked much of kamakura it seemed.

We stumbled upon another Temple which you had to travel through a tunnel in a rock wall covered in moss to get to. And also a massive temple atop a giant staircase with people walking around in kimonos and other traditional japanese clothing.

Tomorrow Tokyo International Toy Show & Open Air Museum

Later

Japan Day 8

Japan Day 8

This will be a short post since we gotta head out to Kamakura real soon. But yesterday we went to Odaiba, a man made island in Tokyo. Quite a site to see! You have to take a special train to it and cross over the "Rainbow Bridge" It's a very nice ride.

The whole area of Odaiba is really cool, your at the Tokyo waterfront and there is a nice big upper board walk with tons of shops and restaraunts. Also everything is connected by skywalks, some having nice very nice gardens. All in all it is just a very nice area.

We checked out a lot of sweet stores and then the Toyota Showrooms where they showed some sweet new cars they were making, along with some new ROBOTS! We even got to see a special presentation of a Robot playing a trumpet! It kinda hurt my ears honestly, the robot could use some more practice. But i'm guessing the trumpet playing is just a front for the Robots true objective, to kill us all and John Conner.

We got to do a mini "Ninja Warrior" at "Muscle Park". It was so much harder than I thought and so much harder than it looks. I failed miserably cause I am totally out of shape, I felt the BURN afterwards. You can see me failing the last challenge of the course in the video below, i'll put up the rest of the video so you can see all of my failures when I get back home.

Kamakura today

Later!

Japan Day 7

Japan Day 7

First stop today was Ueno Park, a huge park housing giant lotus ponds along with various old japanese shrines/buildings. It really was quite incredible to see, the ponds were so littered with lotus plants that you could barely see any of the water underneath and blooming lotuses could be seen sparatically across the ponds. There also were a shitload of turtles.

Then we checked out the Sony Building in Ginza, here they showcase new Sony products that you can test and see for free. Probably the coolest part would be when you first go up the stairs to the showroom floor, these stairs play a musical note with each step you take up them. The faster you go up the stairs the faster the tune is, its pretty sweet. I'll save the video of that for another time. At Sony we got to check out some kickass cameras, computers, and 3D Tvs. The 3D was a bit of a letdown though, we thought it was going to be a lot more impressive.

Probably the coolest part of the day (Literally, lolz) would be going to the Ice Bar. A bar made entirely of ICE. Yes, the whole bar is made of ice, even our glasses were made of Ice. We were given heavy big fur coats when we entered so we wouldn't freeze to death. The bar is kept at a steady -5 degrees so that the Ice remains frozen. The drinks we got were also really really good and it was a nice break from the scorching hot weather. Honestly, the whole time I felt like I was in The Penguins lair, it was another realm. I'm sure Arnold would have a field day using Ice puns all day at that bar, probably pick up all the chicks with Ice lines like "Ice to meet you".

Tomorrow we visit Odaiba.

By the way, the crows in Japan are HUGE!

Later

Japan Day 6

Today we went to Akihabara; Anime, Manga, Videogames & more. In other words, the nerd center of Tokyo. And it definitely delivered on that title. First we went to the "Gundam Cafe" which honestly wasn't all that special, we got these really cool looking coffees there, but they were really just plain coffee in the end and cost more than a coffee any where else. The cafe itself was pretty small and there were just some gundam statues and figures strewn across the place. When we were about to leave some guy stopped us and told us to check out the bathroom, this man was a savior as the bathroom was the sweetest part of the cafe. You pressed some button on the wall that said "activate" and the whole room went dark, then two giant gundam eyes began to slowly glow brighter and brighter as the sounds of a mech coming to life grew louder and louder until the toilet seat mechanically rose itself up and you prepared yourself to lay a steamer into the Gundam's waste receptical.

We then went to a Maid Cafe, one that we were escorted to by one of the many maids handing out flyers in the street. At the cafe we paid for overpriced food and drinks that had a cute unique design to them. We then were told we had to do a spell over the food to make it taste better, we had to cup our hands together like hearts and say some voodoo chant about love and food. Then we were given a chance to dub an anime with one of the maids. Me and Alex did the two main voices and Tom narrarated the opening, we had another maid with us doing the third voice. I'm not sure where she was from but she was neither American nor Japanese. Whatever it was a good time, lots of fun dubbing it over. We got a DVD of the final version with the voices synced up but watching it again later we realized it really sucked... whatever it was fun to make. I have the footage but it is a bit too long to post on here.

Of course we came across tons of anime, manga, and hentai shops every which way. Even being there for a good 6 or so hours we didn't go to probably half of the anime/manga/game shops there. There's a lot to see! Another one of the highlights was "Super Potato" a retro game store with 5 floors of games from every video game console you can think of and even with a retro arcade at the very top floor which had an arcade version of "Moonwalker"!

We checked out the arcades in the area afterwards but it seemed as though the arcades in Ikebukuro were bigger and better. In any case Akihabara is everything I dreamed it would be and more, so much to see and do!

Tomorrow, Sony building + Hakuhinkan Toy Park + Ueno Park

Later

Japan Day 5

Japan Day 5

We went to the Imperial Palace today with Yuki and Joey. From outside the palace was amazing! You could see an old japanese house resting on the corner of the emperor's own personal island complete with a moat surrounding the entire area. We crossed a bridge to get within the palace walls and from here the tour was not quite as exciting. Honestly the palace was a bit more stunning from the outside, it was still interesting to walk around within it but it was a rather short tour and it seemed there were many more modern buildings within its walls.

We then went to a really neat sushi conveyor belt restaurant. It had a touch screen menu at every seat where you could order specific sushi plates, once you ordered a little Train raced through the middle of the restaurant with your sushi plates on top of it and came to a stop in front of your seat. You pressed a blinking red button after you had taken your sushi and the train returned to where it came from. Necessary? Maybe not. Really awesome and unique? Yes.

Next we went to a massive anime/manga thrift store-ish complex. 3 Floors of endless manga and anime merchandise. Much of it marked down from being opened and repackaged. We were overwhelmed once again and spent about 2 hours roaming the stores. There also was a giant Warhammer store. Here the clerk there showed me and Joey how to play the game. He walked us through an intense battle. Joey used orcs and I used space marines, of course I kicked the orcs asses but it was an epic battle and I can now say I learned to play Warhammer in Japan!

Tommorrow is Akihabara!

Later

Japan Day 4

Japan Day 4

Today we went to the Pokemon Center and then to see the new 13th Pokemon Movie! Tom had a Pokegasm throughout the day. I don't blame him though, the Pokemon Center was overwhelming. Decked out with pokemon merchandise from top to bottom, playing pokemon music and videos on TVs over head. With big plastic Pokemon figures hovering overhead. There was an area where you could do something with your poke walker but unfortunately Tom forgot his.

The movie was... incredibly confusing. It seemed to me to be one of the most complicated Pokemon films I had ever seen and the fact that it was in Japanese just made it utterly impossible to understand. There was something about this guy who used crazy technology to make it look like some pokemon was there when it wasnt and to make it look like some town was destroyed when it wasnt and then he could see into the future randomly with his weird eyes and there was these two new pokemon that could transform into any person or pokemon it touched... i'm surprised I even figured that much out. The coolest part about it was that you get a sweet Pokemon Keychain of the new Pokemon just for going to the movie, you also are supposed to get shiny legendary pokemon on your DS. Me and Tom attempted to do this at Toys R Us but it didn't work most likely because I was using a bootleg version and Tom was using an English version. Also we noticed from the trailers before the film that it seems like for every movie you go to in Japan you get some free cool gift to go with it. Seems like a better way to get people to go to theatres than making everything 3D. You also reserve specific seats when you go to the box office which is a cool idea. After the movie there was tons and tons of Pokemon Merchandise to be bout right in the theatre, again a very clever maneuver to make going to the theater more of a unique experience.

After Pokemon we went to "Namja Town" which we had heard was really neat and was in our area of Ikebukuro within Sunshine City. We had only heard a bit about the place and didn't expect too much. But holy shit this place was HUGE! Two floors of insanity. Much of it was designed like Old Japan but than other parts were creepy and eerie and then other parts were just well... I can barely explain it was a whole other world in there honestly. There is a place called Ice Cream city in there with the weirdest flavors of ice cream you will ever find, we bought Sea Urchin Ice Cream. Also had an amazing Ice Cream Bowl that looked like a panda's face! There was a huge area that was just tons and tons of Dumpling restaurants. The place often felt like a giant maze, we'd walk down some weird alley with all sorts of weird things on the wall and sounds yelling at us and come out in some entirely new area. It was really really cool and I hope to return.

Tommorrow we meet up with Joey and Yuki again to go to the Imperial Palace! We may be partying in Shibyu afterwards, we are not sure just yet.

Later

Japan Day 3

Japan Day 3

Today we went to the Ghibli Museum. Yuki, Tris's neighbor when he had lived in Japan, met with us at the Shinjuku Station and then we continued on to the museum. Yuki was incredibly helpful and kind to us the entire time, she has been helping me a great deal with our vacation in Tokyo.

NO cameras permitted inside the museum but I got some footage outside, of course i'm not uploading it all at the moment.

The museum was beautiful and a unique experience. In no way your traditional "Museum" the whole place feels like something right out of Miyazaki's mind. Truly something to experience first hand. The film we got to see was cute and simple, it was the story of a puppy who became lost from it's owner.

I drew the Laputa Robot but it was just sooo hot I couldn't stay out drawing it for very long. I'm not all that proud of the drawing but I will put it up later.

Later on we met up with Joey, Tris's younger brother. We went out to eat at a Sushi Conveyor Belt place which was rather cheap (120 yen a plate! and that was the same price for all plates!). We then walked around a bit and eventually parted ways but it was certainly nice to speak in english with another american outside of our group. We plan to meet up with Joey and Yuki again when we visit the Imperial Palace on Monday.

Later on in the night we ventured back to the Sega Arcade and played some really neat games once again. Also found a 24 hour hot food vending machine, it microwaves your food and everything! You can even get Lo-main, its cheap and good! Just really hot and you have to wait a like 2 minutes after you select your food.

I played the "Metal Gear Solid Arcade Game" which was truly an advanced arcade game. It was in 3D which you wore glasses for and it tracked your head movements so that where-ever you moved your head your character would look that way. It was not easy to get used to but felt really neat and immersive. I have no footage of this or the other cool stuff we played at the arcade but we hope to return tomorrow and I will definitely film then.

Pokemon Center and New Pokemon Movie tommorrow!

Japan Day 2

Today we went to Shinjuku, we went to the Park there which was really impressive once you got to the Japanese Gardens. There was a really cool old japanese house with a nice pond in front of it filled with GIANT fish which swarmed towards you when you came close begging for food. We found another arcade that was 5 floors or so. We played "Elevator Action Death Parade" which I wish I could upload the footage from but it is too big for blogger. We had a group of schoolgirls behind us clapping and watching intensely. Also bought a pack of these cards called "Lord Of Vermillion" with these cards you can play this videogame where you use the cards in the game, its kinda hard to explain but its like real life Yu-Gi-Oh if that makes sense. The cards are from all different card games INCLUDING Magic the gathering! We then played this super fun and difficult Rhythm game called "jubeat".

Also these two guys stopped Alex in the street cause they saw his Passion Pit shirt and got excited, they then put on "Sleepy Head" by Passion Pit on their boombox, made us all very happy. We then had a ten burger high Burger that we split three ways, super yummy.

We had a long adventure in pouring rain trying to find the Seiyu Grocery Store in Ikebukuro, we were forced to buy umbrellas because of the deadly rain. We did eventually find it and got shrimp chips, green pea chips, and cheetos things. Tom got some cereal that came with a pokemon card, I got a big thing of this awesome apple juice, also got plum and banana juice. They had really cheap premade meals there too, each of our meals were only about $4! Wasn't the best food but good for the money. Oh and I got "Sweet Potato Liquor" also known as "Shouchu Kaido" I believe. Have yet to try it.

Unfortunately a lot of these videos are just too big to upload. I plan to edit a nice video together when I get back home though, for now enjoy these little pieces.











Tommorrow is the Ghibli Museum, unfortunately no camera's are allowed :( But we also plan to hit up "Namja Town" afterwards so i'll be sure to capture some of that on video.

Whisper of the Heart is on TV!

Later!

More Videos

These are from yesterday still, i'll put up more on what will be friday morning for all of you American peoples

Later

Japan Day 1

Japan Day 1

Ok so this will probably be a pretty sloppy post cause I've been up for 48 hours and am incredibly tired and worn out.

We had no issues with the plane ride, subway, and hotel.

Everything has honestly been perfect.

After half a day here I would describe Tokyo as a cleaner, nerdier, and more technologically advanced NYC.

We went around the area our hotel is in at Ikebukaro and found a MASSIVE SEGA arcade beyond any arcade I have EVER seen. It was incredible and I cannot wait to go back!

We also found Sunshine City which is a MASSIVE mall. There were many other adventures, the train ride from the airport was beautiful and the city is unique and exciting.

The only issue i'm having right now is we are all so uneducated in the different phrases and mannerisms that I feel we come off as rude and stereotypical foreigners.

Anyway here's a little piece of the uncut footage, i dont have time to edit them. Probably wont do that til I get back home.

Enjoy!













Some of it will have to wait for editing as there is too much dead time in them and it would take too long to upload.

Will update again tomorrow!
Later

Off To Japan!

I'm off to Tokyo, Japan!

Hope to arrive around 4-5ish on thursday. it'll be 5-6 am over in the US.

I plan to document the trip on video, i'll try to post them each day at night. Look for the first one Thursday night.

Bye!

I'm Employed!

I got the job! I'm now working at Bunko Studios in NYC as an After Effects Animator. I don't think I'm supposed to say specifically what I'm working on but all I can say is yesterday I worked on a shot with hundreds of puppies running off a cliff.

Oh and my first official task was to build my chair, literally I walked in and there was an

unopened box at my desk with the pieces of a computer chair in it.

Also got my Pen for my tablet and colored those two

life drawings I spoke of in the last post.

More Waterfalls!

There was a turtle just sitting there in the middle of the trail, he was shy but I managed to do a quick sketch of the guy

Both of these were colored in photoshoped and sketched with that same brush tip marker

Oh some pics from the massive Lightsaber Battle!

It's a Jedi Rave Party !

This battle was intimidating, no its not cause he's a black sith lord! It's cause he has a cape!

Oh and that comic strip I spoke of, here it is finally. I hope to put one of these in the blog every other post or so.

Uhhh.... it just uploads as super tiny on here so I'm linking everyone to the Deviant Art Page below

Blog Comic 01

(click the image and check out it out full size or its unreadable)

Nature Walks + Drawing

So I've been going on Nature walks with my girlfriend Amanda and drawing the amazing scenery. I've been doing these with that same brush tip marker and colored them in with prisma colored pencils. These were anywhere from 3-10 minute sketches.

The above three were taken at this amazing trail in PA right outside of NJ, called "Child's Park" I believe. Really beautiful waterfalls!

This last one was taken on a trail right by my house which was littered with Turtles! I have a drawing of a turtle that I still need to color and will put up in the next post.

Actually reason why that comic strip i mentioned last post isn't in here is cause I lost my pen for my Bamboo Fun Tablet. I just ordered a new one and hope to have it within a week or so.

Alright i'm returning to NYC tomorrow to take an animation test! Wish me luck and Saturday there is a sweet Lightsaber Battle going down in the lower Manhattan area! May the force be with you all and me since i'll have to kick some Sith ass!

Saachi & Saachi

Hi all

I'm working on storyboards for my next film which will be a combination of Live-Action & Traditional Animation. I'll upload some concept art and the some of the boards in the next post.

Also Rusted Heart is currently Ranked 4 on the Saachi & Saachi contest on Aniboom! Please view it and rate it using the link below, thanks!

Saachi & Saachi - A Rusted Heart

Also have some sketches I did at Madison Square Park and then at my Girlfriend Amanda's Graduation at Rutgers, I experimented with a Fiber Castell Black Artist Pen. You know its those thin markers with the brush-like tip. I'm liking what its doing for me so far and I think it may be helping me improve, anyway check it out:

Comic strip to be in the next post! Look for it!

Later

Something Bearded This Way Comes...

Hi all,

Welcome to the new blog to go along with my new website!

--> Brian and Beard

It's funny how I happen to make the site right after I get my beard trimmed down to nothingness, here check out the transformation:

So my Senior Thesis Film "Memories" is DONE! Yes! Finally!

Please come see it at the

Dusty Film Festival

Details --> Tuesday May 4, 2010 7:00-11:30pm

Located at the SVA THEATRE!

23rd St Between 8th & 9th Ave

I have a few different thoughts on what my next short might be, but the one thing I do know for sure is I'll steer clear of anything over 5 minutes for a little while. Memories was a huge undertaking and I think I could use a break before jumping into something that big again. I'll post concept art on here as the film comes to fruition.

For now though, it's relax time.

it's been endless work this semester. Barely any sleep and I think It's time for some well deserved chill down time.

So for now check out my site and check out my film!

Later