The Mammoth Extinction
written by Kate Duffy and Patrick van den Broek
Drawn and Animated by Patrick van den Broek
Music by Ben Harris
Created by Kate Duffy
The animated short is out. As with everything that I have worked on for too long, I dislike it and think it is a collection of errors and shoddy work. I feel shame...
That being said, I am very happy with the learning process from this. Technically, I am armed with the full Adobe CS suite, and the full page Wacom Intious tablet. I have a strong 4-monitor studio setup, but I need to go mobile with this digital creative setup. Big, strong, light lap top is on the horizon, with a few backup batteries. One bag and I have lap top and tablet anywhere with 10 hours of power. Boom!
The most surprising thing was working with Ben Harris on music. Remember that name, because this kid is talented. He is a music director for Second City in Chicago. I think music is so powerful, but especially in my rougher, childlike animation style. I have always just copied and credited band for music for my shorts. But we can't do that now. And creating music is a "comfortable impossibility" of my life. I do not know how to create music from silence. I do not know where to start. I find it amazing.
Kate and I send Ben an email to request his services. We showed him a rougher version of the short and I gave my vague, convoluted, disorganized "directions". The moral of the story was that I think there are three kinds of music for my animation style.:
- Classical - Warner Brothers
- Jazz - Pink Panther
- "Cartoon" music - Hanna Barbara
"Can you blend all the styles, but make it more contemporary?" That's all.
And then in our shared Dropbox folder appeared a set of tracks of music. He kills it. He writes a "Let's Get Procreating" jam that is timed perfectly with my animation and it fantastic. He found the musical flavor of the short and the series. He brought something that Kate and I had not imagined. I am excited to work with him again.
Pretty cool. Had to share. Remember the name.
