Long Time No Blog

Yeah, I know I've often said I was going to "post more" but.... LIFE, you know? Anyway, things are really starting to pick up around here. I've been busy working full time and juggling said work with other side projects.
Project 1:
I just finished a short story that I've been working on since November. It's titled "Flea Dip." It's kind of a Horror/Neo-Noir/Comedy type thing. I wrote about 90% of it at night (when I'm tired and crazy) so, I think it turned out ok. The next challenge would be getting it published...
What's funny is, as soon as I finished it, I found this.

Now I realize, I need to rewrite the WHOLE STORY as a SCRIPT! 

Yeah, I'm not all that familiar with the screenplay format and it's proving to be quite irritating. But I have 15 pages already, so I think I'll be able to make the deadline.

And by the way, that was actually Project 2.

So, Project 3:

I'm currently trying to get certain stop - motion things done in time for a certain event. But, that may or may not happen, depending on how fast I get my script done. Really, it's crazy how many things I want and need to do that ALL have approximately the same deadline: JULY! 

So, until I can finish something, I probably won't post anything new for a little while (ha, you all know what that means....). 

Anyway, till next time.

Heads

I've been working on and off on the puppet heads for the new short. 

This is just the guy. I call him "Perry" because it sounds better than "the guy."

Perry's head was sculpted in Monster Clay, by my dad, mostly because I didn't want to try and figure how to deal with clay other than what I'm used to. (Also, because I was just lazy.)

Perry's head was molded and I began work on the facial armature. This was, however, a task that has proved extremely difficult and frustrating. SO difficult that this pic is actually of the second attempt. I stopped taking photos by the third because, well, I just didn't want to anymore.

The eyes are glass beads, the skull itself is epoxy putty, and the eyebrow/lip wires are pipe cleaners.

I'm still working out some small problems with Perry's skull. 

Also, I'm sculpting the OTHER character which is still classified. What I can tell you is: this "other character" is the biggest puppet I've ever had to make. Plus, it's got to have FUR. 

WOOPS, I've probably said too much as it is, so till next time. Bye!

A Puppet With CLOTHES!

So, I've been working on a new project (which I believe I mentioned a few months back) and it's been going relatively well.

I've built the armature with new tiedowns and have just partially clothed it.

The tiedowns are ground into a "T" shape which will fit inside a slot in the feet. 

I didn't come up with this design myself, rather, it was devised by Nick Hilligoss! You can check out his tutorial for such tiedowns here.

The clothes that are shown are store-bought, doll clothes which just happened to fit perfectly! 

These are just the basics though. This puppet will eventually have a trench coat sewn over it. Not by ME of course, I can't sew to save my life. I have a friend however, who's mother will be completing the outfit.

As you can see, I'm still quite far from animating. But hopefully, I'll be able to have this entire project done before Halloween.

The Montreal Stop Motion Film Festival

So, some cool news. I've entered Autumn Leaves in the Montreal Stop Motion Film Festival. 
Also, I'd encourage anyone out there who has a short stop-mo film to enter! It's a really cool event and their call for entries is only going to last till September 21st. So, enter now while you still can.
Check out their trailer:

Good News

Ok, I've been really busy for the past few months (and yes, I know that's always my excuse) but I've graduated, been out of town, and looking for a job! Jobs, as you all know, are very hard to come by these days...
More to the point, I, with my newfound freedom, have gotten back into the swing of things. And am currently working on, 1 a new short (the title of which I can't divulge) 2 lots more art, and 3, a new website. Because the short is a closely guarded secret, the only info I can give you is that it will be a spoof of classic horror films, possibly filmed in black and white.
As for the art, I've been working on a series of digital paintings titled "Monster Yearbook."
So far, I've finished Nosferatu and The Mummy. I hope to have The Wolfman, Frankenstein, etc, soon.

Jimmy "Spaz" Nosferatu

Here's an in-progress of The Mummy:

First color layer

The final Mummy

I made a new website/homepage for easier viewing of my work. The site is now up and running, so here's the link: http://santinovitale.blogspot.com/

That's all for now.

Merry Christmas!

So, over Christmas break I put Autumn Leaves up on Youtube!

Here you go:

IlluXCon, Autumn Leaves, and Other Stuff

Ok, I don't have much time, just really quick in and back out, so...

First, we're back from IlluXCon 4 and we had a great time!

I was given the privilege to set up a computer showing my short films. Thanks to the masterminds behind IlluXCon, Pat and Jeannie Wilshire.

This picture is actually from last year, but Ian Miller (left) was unable to attend this year. He was there in spirit.

Me (right of course) and Britt Tolemeo

One of my favorite Thomas Kuebler sculpts, the Geinball Machine (it really works)

I even got to play in the IlluXCon Jam headed up by the great artist/guitarist, Mark Zug!

So, other than IlluXCon news, I'm pleased to inform you that I've completed Autumn Leaves! Actually, everything in this post is old news, I must confess. IlluXCon was back at the beginning of the month and Autumn Leaves was finished the third week of October. I've just been so busy that I haven't really had time to update the blog (plus, I kept forgetting about it too). Either way, that's all the news for now. Except, Autumn Leaves will not be available for viewing for another week or so. It's a really huge file and would probably take 12 or more hours to upload. Until then, I'll try to be more immediate with my posts.